Changing Feelings
by ImprintMeJacob
Summary: Standard storyline. Girl meets boy. Girl and boy become friends. Girl and boy become best friends. Girl falls in love with boy. Boy...? What happens when Bella's feelings for her best friend, Edward, start to change? Will she ever tell Edward? Will she get her happy every after? Please read and review! Chapter 9 updated!
1. Delicious Beginnings

**Hello, fellow Vampires, Werewolves and Hybrids. This is the first story that I have attempted to write. I'm pretty nervous about it, but I hope you like it.**

**All characters belong to Steph M. Except Jacob, who is MINE! Hands off!  
**

**Thanks must go to my awesome Beta, My Vampire Sparkles. I love you! Thanks also to Divs, Posh and others who have supported me through this period...**

**Okay, before this starts to sound like a speech someone will say at the Oscars, I'll let you read and, hopefully, enjoy!**

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Bella POV

"Ouch! Dammit, I think I broke my wrist. Arrgghhhh!"

I threw off my rollerblades and ran to Edward's side. He always had trouble turning into the alleyway near his house since it was a tight turn and there was a lip where the street connected to the alleyway that could easily trip anyone. I had been rollerblading for a lot longer than Edward had. Renee, my mom, had made me keep my fitness level up, so I had to burn calories by doing 'sixty minutes of hardcore exercise everyday'; whether it was raining, hail-stoning, snowing, or even if there was lightning. Ew. I hated any form of precipitation. Funnily, my first choice had been to go swimming, but that was too much hassle as the closest swimming pool to my house was... well, really far away. When Edward, my best friend, had heard my mom talking about me getting some exercise, he had bought himself a pair of rollerblades and started practicing in his garden. Once he got the hang of it, he asked me if he could join me in my little session. Of course, I agreed.

"Edward! Are you okay? Say something! Please, please tell me you're okay!" I yelled. The stones beneath me were digging into my knees, and my fingers were gripping Edward's hair so tightly that I wondered how I hadn't pulled it out yet.

"Bella, I'm fine. Don't fret. Calm down, _Belly Button_." He said with a smirk. "Just take a chill pill."

I glared at him hotly. I hated it when he used that dumb nickname. Ugh, Belly Button. How random was that?

"Just for that, _Eddikins_, you aren't getting my special cookie milkshake tonight." I told him with a superior air, using _his_ stupid nickname. Every time his father, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, was angry at him, Eddikins was the first thing that sprung to his mind. It was the same way for me.

"Aw, Bella, don't be like that! Please! I was only joking." His eyebrows mashed together, and he looked genuinely upset. Even though I knew he was only playing me, trying to get me to forgive him, I had to take pity on him. I was dazzled yet again by his mad acting skills.

"Okay, Edward. But that is _the_ last time you call me that stupid name, got it? Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, you broke your wrist. Oh my God, you broke your wrist! Should I call Carlisle? Or Esme? Or Alice?"

"Bella. Will you stop that? Carlisle will probably just take me to the hospital, and you know how much I hate it there. The smell of antiseptic, the blood and all those needles..." We both cringed in memory. "Esme will probably keep me in bed all day and the whole of tomorrow as well. And Alice? How can you even mention her name? She would probably scream until the whole neighbourhood collapses."

I rolled my eyes. Alice, my other best friend and Edward's sister, would do just that. At school, three years ago, Alice had screamed so much that Mr. Berty, our English teacher, had sent her to the principal's office with a detention slip. Her reasoning behind the screaming had been that there was a greenfly on her table, but still, we were only ten years old.

We all hoped that Alice would be a little more mature this year, but no such luck was with us. In fact, she had gotten slightly worse, especially as she now had a boyfriend. Jasper Whitlock was one of the calmest people I knew, but he seemed to have no effect on old Ali. She was, somehow, even more 'hyped-up' when she was with Jasper. It was starting to get on my nerves. Badly. But I really enjoyed Jasper's company. He had become one of my closest friends.

"Okay fine. But still, would you PLEASE come inside and let me bandage your hand? Please?"

His eyes narrowed. I rolled my eyes again, and pleaded with my eyes as well as pouting my lips slightly.

"Alright, Bella, alright! Bandage my stupid wrist." He shook his head, and I led him inside his house.

Edward's house was like a mansion. The first time I stepped foot in it, I needed a Sat Nav to get around...

* * *

It was a rainy day as I stood nervously on the stoop of Edward's house, knocking softly.

"Bella? Is that you?" Edward said. I knocked timidly on the door once again.

"Yeah, it's me Edward. Can you open the door, please? It's raining so hard out here." I was shivering and my teeth were chattering in the bitter cold.

"Oh yeah, sorry Bella. Come on in." He replied as he opened the door. I stepped inside and looked up. My mouth fell to the floor. His house was huge from the outside, but inside it was enormously huge! I was sure that Edward had said his was the same size as my house and yet my house looked like a balloon next to his.

"You like?" I spun around to face Edward and he beamed back at me. He had a huge gap in his beautiful smile because his front teeth had recently fallen out. He reminded me of a bunny rabbit.

"I love! It's so big, though! I thought your house was supposed to be the same size as mine? You lied, Edward! You lied!" I said accusingly, poking a finger into his chest.

"I didn't, honestly! My mom said I should never boast," He said proudly, as if he had learned a new, big word.

I laughed. Edward was so funny. Maybe that's why he was my best friend. He led me into the kitchen, helped me hop onto the chair and took my jacket to hang up. I was still freezing, and he seemed to notice as he asked Esme to turn the gas fire on. Sitting on the kitchen counter was a bowl of the juiciest, yummiest looking watermelon I had ever seen. Again being his observant self, Edward asked if I wanted some.

"I've never had watermelon before," I said quietly. He got a knife from the drawer closest to me and walked over to the bowl. Edward cut the fruit in half and it oozed with goodness. He diced it until it was small enough to pop into my mouth and selected a small but juicy piece with the fewest number of seeds visible. He handed it to me with a smile. I took the piece gently and then bit off the first chunk of what would be a life long love of the scrumptious fruit. I swallowed and practically screamed,

"Oh my God, that is DELICIOUS!" Edward and Esme were laughing raucously. I glared at them but finished the succulent fruit before hopping off my chair and grabbing another, occasionally spitting out the odd pip. We chatted conversationally as I ate piece after piece of watermelon until I felt a pressure in my abdomen and knew something would need to be done about it now. I asked Esme where the bathroom was. Until now, I hadn't realised watermelon had a lot of water in it. I needed to pee. Desperately.

"Honey, just go up the stairs and turn left. It should be right in front of you. Shall I come with you?"

I shook my head. I could hardly pee when my mum was on the same floor as me, let alone a stranger (well, Edward's mom, actually) coming into the room with me.

"It's okay, Esme, I'm sure I can manage. Thank you, though." I said politely. Edward sniggered at my graciousness.

"Okay, Darling, go ahead."

I heard her scolding Edward for chortling at me. I bit my bottom lip and smiled goofily.

I trudged up the stairs and came across the landing, gawking at all the perfect pictures and portraits of Edward's family jealously. I felt a funny feeling in my tummy. Oh, God. I was desperately desperate now. What had Esme said? Ah, the door on the left. I turned to my left, but there was no door there. I frowned. To my right there was no door either. I cocked my head and bit down on my lip. Was I lost? But, how in the world had I gotten lost? I fought back the tears and turned around again. There was a door at the end of the corridor. I staggered blindly towards it and opened the door. Seated in a chair, with a brandy glass in his hand, was Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Edward's very well-respected father. Carlisle had the looks of a movie star. He was... very good-looking, with his blond hair, muscled body and perfect, chiselled features. If Edward ended up looking like that, I would definitely be marrying my best friend. I chuckled slightly at that absurd thought, considering I was only six, and marriage 'shouldn't be on my mind' (as my dad had once, so nicely, put it). I shook my head slightly and remembered my being here. I started weeping again.

"Bella? What's going on? Are you okay?" He said, acknowledging my tears.

"Carlisle, I'm lost. Where am I?" I sniffed, rubbing my watery eyes.

He wiped my tears away and gave me a tissue. Carlisle then held my hand and tilted his head to the door.

"Bella, let me take you downstairs. Don't worry, you're okay now. Come on, now, stop crying."

After leading me this way and that, I saw a staircase. We walked down together and I could see Edward pacing the foot of the steps, with an anxious look on his face.

"Bella! Oh, God! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Edward." I giggled. "I got lost! I couldn't find the toilet and- What's that look for!"

Edward was shaking his head, a slight edge of relief on his pale face.

"Bella, this isn't funny. You could've gotten hurt!" He wiped the watermelon traces of my face with his sleeve.

I rolled my eyes and took Edward's sweaty palm in mine.

"Let's go eat some cookies. We can play cookie dunk! And I know I'm gonna win today- I have a good feeling." I said, smiling.

And we walked off together, hand in hand... and I didn't even need to pee any more. Thank God.

* * *

"Bella? What's up? Is something wrong?" Edward said anxiously, shaking my shoulder as he tried to wake me from my reverie.

I smiled. Whenever I became a Dolly Daydream, Edward always assumed the worst.

"I'm good, fine. I'm just... thinking." I said, picking out the ace bandage from the first aid kit and flicking my brown hair over my shoulder. My hair was pretty long now- it had reached my waist. I wanted to cut it, but Edward thought that the 'awesome streaks of red-ness' were too good to let go.

"Bella?" He asked in a serious tone, raising an eyebrow to punctuate the question. Seeing my stubborn posture he continued sweetly, "Aren't you going to tell me?" pouting his lips slightly. I could smell his sweet, candy-cool breath fanning my face. I shook my head quickly, smirking in pleasure that I could withstand his dazzling abilities this time.

"Ugh, I wish I could read your mind." He replied, irked. My eyes widened. If Edward could read minds, my only wish would be that my mind was running on another wavelength somehow, with a totally different frequency and that there was no way in hell that my thoughts would be his in a matter of seconds. Thank goodness he wasn't some sort of... mind-reader.

"Edward, that's a bad wish and you know it. It's one that is totally wasted. Now you'll never get my cookie milkshake!" I said, eyes gleaming, wrapping the material firmly yet gently around his left wrist with careful hands.

Edward became thoughtful, a slight frame of hurt in the warm gaze that he fixed on me.

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**What do you think? Too over-the-top on my first attempt? Please review... I'll update quicker!**

**Love! **

**ImprintMeJacob x**


	2. Snowy Eyed Monster

**Wow! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. I never knew that so many people would like my story. Also, I'm terribly sorry for not updating sooner- I had my mind on exams and stuff, but because I love my readers so much, I decided to update before my exams in January!**

**Sorry about the corny chapter names. That's just me! (And my awesome Beta, My Vampire Sparkles too! LOL!)**

**By the by, it's actually snowing here in London as we speak. Or, should I say, as I type. That was kind of my inspiration for writing this chapter now... :)**

**Oh, and all characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, our Queen. But Steph got back to an email I sent her a few months back and told me she would be delighted if I looked after Jacob for her. So he's MINE!**

**Anyhoo, I'll let you get on with it. I hope to God you all enjoy!**

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Bella POV

I sighed and looked glumly outside the window. My day, so far, was not going well. After living in Forks for 14 years, I still couldn't get over the rain and snow. Today was a snowy and frosty day- there had to be at least 20 centimetres of snow on the cars and road. When I had gone to the toilet at the crack of dawn, I literally had icicles on my butt. And after that, I went for a shower, only to find my _dear _father Charlie had used up all the hot water. I had rolled my eyes so often today I wondered why I wasn't permanently cross-eyed.

Everyone was outside making snowmen and snow-women and snow-angles and snow-devils, throwing snowballs and snow-squares and snow-triangles and snow-lumps. I, on the other hand, was stuck inside with a teddy bear called Major Coco. Edward was outside, occasionally giving me a crooked smile and waving. But now he was glaring at her with hatred. The one and only, Miss 'Sluts-Are-Us', Jessica 'Freakazoided Urchin' Stanley. Edward hated her. And so did I. But Jessica really was, to say the very least, an urchin. Poor Edward didn't know what a loser she was. She didn't like me because I was best friends with Edward Cullen. She once confided in me that she was in love with Edward, knowing I would get angry. Well, that's an understatement. I got so pissed I wanted to kill her. Not that I was in love with Edward but he was my best friend and if he dated her, there would never be any time for him to spare with me. And when she saw that look on my face, which was probably that of jealousy, she kept on knocking into me (and as I was a total klutz, I would fall over and drop all my books each time), throwing spitballs at me and the thing that annoyed me most? She was out to get Edward away from me. To get him, roast him, trample on him, eat him and keep him forever. Each time my books fell to the floor, though, Edward helped me pick them up, smiled at me crookedly, dazzled all the girls around us and put his arm around my shoulders. At this point my cheeks would be cherry red and my heart would be thumping unevenly.

I still remembered when she had asked Edward to the spring-fling at our school last year. And I also remembered the answer that Edward had given her.

* * *

"Edward! There you are!" I cried. Thank goodness I had found him. I had been running for a few minutes down the hall in my search for Edward. Mrs Cope, our receptionist, had been looking for him.

"Bella. What's up?"

"Mrs Cope wants to talk to you. She said something about a new girl living on your road. I think she wants you to take care of her." I shrugged as Edward rolled his eyes dramatically. We hated it when other people came and interfered in our lives.

"Great. That's just great. What is she's another Lauren?" His tone changed from sarcastic to slightly scared. He cringed visibly. Lauren Mallory had a school girl crush on Edward and her 'mission' in life, she told me, was to kiss him. She tried to 'get in my good books so she could befriend Edward and make him fall in love with her'. Those were her words, not mine.

"I'm sure she won't be. I saw her just now and she looks okay." I tried to comfort Edward. Poor boy. It wasn't his fault if he was good looking. I say we should blame his parents. After all, Edward does have their genes.

"Ugh. Wish me luck." He grimaced and walked off. I could see that he was annoyed.

He came back a few minutes later and his face was, amazingly, lit up. I exercised my 42 face muscles and frowned. What was with the sudden change of emotion?

"Bella, this is Jessica Stanley. Jessica, Bella." He was grinning, but his face fell slightly when he saw my frown.

"Sorry. Um, hi. I'm Bella Swan. Nice to meet you." I plastered a fake smile on my face. But it had nothing on Jessica's look.

"Oh! You're Edward's friend, right?" She had a very nasal voice and she was smiling like a plastic doll. I very nearly rolled my eyes again. Yup, just as I had expected. A Barbie. This was a term Edward and I had come up with when we had met all the girls in our class. Pink, fluffy and Princess were the words that stood out most. And they were the nice words. She was, surprisingly, wearing an old pair of sweats and a baggy shirt. A tom-boy, yet a Barbie? Weird.

"Actually, I'm Edward's _best_ friend." I said, emphasising the 'best'. What a brat.

"Oh, right, whatever. Sure." She bared her teeth at me like a hissing cat. How dare she, I thought. What did she know about me and Edward, the b- I caught myself before I swore. Mentally slapping myself, I shut my thoughts up.

"Edward, come on, I wanna meet everyone." She whined. I huffed, because her adenoidal-ness was pissing me off. She sounded like a strangled cat.

"No, Edward, come on, you were going to show me the tree house, _remember_?" I was silently praying that Edward wasn't going to side with Jessica.

"Um, Bella, sorry but Mrs Cope is expecting me to show Jess around." Jess? My eyes turned into slits. Since when had he called her Jess? He had only met her a few minutes ago! Jessica, at this point, was smiling deviously. I could almost hear her stupid mind whirring and thinking, _Yes, my plan is working!_

"No, that can wait. A tree house? Awh, Edward, show me. Pwease?" She batted her eyelids. I raised my eyebrows coldly, grinding my teeth. I shook my head. That wasn't a wise choice. That tree house was mine and Edward's only. And lucky for him, Edward made the right decision.

"I'm sorry, Jess...ica." He said, after seeing my eyes narrow again. "It's not open for other eyes." He beamed at me, and that killer crooked smile wormed its way onto Edward's face. My heart stopped beating. Talk about _killer_ smile.

"Humph. Well, fine." She linked her arm with Edward and snuggled close to him. My jaw was clenched and so were my fists. I was fuming. Edward 'unsnuggled' himself from her arm and said,

"Okay, let's go and introduce you to your new classmates now. Bella, wanna come?" His velvet voice turned to me.

"Naw, it's cool. I wanna go ask Signorita Goff about the spring-fling." It was in a few weeks and Mr Banner, our principle, had mentioned that we should get our partners and costumes ready.

"OMG! A spring-fling!" I flinched. Her voice was really loud. "OMG! I've never been to a dance before!" She turned her attention to Edward, looking up from under her eyelashes and said, "Who are you going with? I bet you have loads of people in a queue waiting to ask you!"

She was right, the bi- I caught myself again and mentally slapped my face. Again. I'd been doing this a lot lately and Edward hated when I swore out loud. Little did he know what I was thinking now, though. But, anyway, Lauren, Nettie, Rebecca, Maria, and Lucy had already asked Edward to the dance. But, of course, he had rejected them politely. And another few girls, like Monique, Charlie and Emily were waiting for the right moment too.

"I'm going with Bella, but... Well, she doesn't want to dance there. We're going as best friends, not a couple." His cheeks tinged pink at this point. He continued, "She hates dancing." He chuckled. It sounded like wind chimes.

"Oh. Well. What do you say to this? Come with me! I'm free too!" Jessica shouted. Most people around us turned to see what all the commotion was about. I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for the rest of my life. I looked at Edward. He had a surprised look on his face, and he was blushing slightly. He looked... petrified.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can come with us, seeing as you don't know anyone else yet. Sure, we three can go together... Is that okay with you, Bella?" Edward looked at me anxiously, hoping he hadn't made it uncomfortable for me. Too late.

"I'm going to Jacksonville. You know, to get a book or two, see the Floridians, blah blah blah... Sorry, won't be able to make it. Edward, will you come with me? You need to get books and stuff as well." I looked at him, into his eyes and tried to get him to change his mind, to tell me he would come with me and Esme could drive us in her McLaren...

"Hmm, true. I'm sorry Jessica, but Bella's dad's truck won't make the mileage either. It's really old." He looked away awkwardly. But I was smiling. So what if he dissed Charlie's truck? As long as the filthy monster didn't have her hands on my best friend, I was fine with whatever he said. Edward saw me smiling and gave me one in return. A crooked dazzling smile that almost had me hyperventilating. My heart was hammering against my chest involuntarily. That smile was _divine_.

"But... Bella can go by herself! Who cares about her dad's stupid truck?" She spoke to me then, saying, "Back off! He's _my_ best friend now! He's _mine!_"

"Edward, can we go? I don't have to hear this." I wanted to get away from her before I hurt her. I was very good at karate and taekwondo...

"Jessica, don't you ever talk to Bella like that. And, no, I'm not yours. We need to get to class. Goodbye." Edward said coldly. He looked livid. We both ran off, but being the clumsy person I was, I slipped and tripped over my feet a few times, until Edward's hand came sliding out of nowhere and held onto mine. His palm was sweaty, but comforting.

We laughed once we reached the Gym for our first lesson.

"Thanks, Edward. I really don't like her." I admitted, though he probably already knew that.

"Yeah, I'm not too keen on her. But, you have to admit, she is very good-looking." He joked, but with a serious look on his face.

I sighed heavily. Boys were all the same.

"Well, I don't think so. She looks... like an urchin. A tramp. And that's what I shall call her. Jessica 'Freakazoided Urchin' Stanley. Why did you look so excited to see her anyway?"

"The stupid child was listening to Linkin' Park! And she was wearing sweats. And a baggy tee! I mean, come on, no Barbies in our school listen to them, and they all wear that tight, short, skimpy stuff," He shuddered and continued saying, "I thought she would be different. But, heh. You're jealous. You know, you're quite cute when that pretty little face goes green,"

Edward smiled crookedly again and laughed. He brought his hand to my cheek, repeatedly stroking his thumb across my cheekbone, and said, "Beware of jealously, My Lord, it is the green-eyed monster". I huffed again while my face went into panic mode and turned to the one thing left I could do. Run. I was hyperventilating and I thought I was going to either pass out or fall into a coma or die. I marched into the girls' changing rooms before he could notice the blush that had crept silently upon my face, leaving his hand cupped in mid air.

"Hey! I was not finished with you, Bella! Get back here and give me a hug. I know you're going to fall over in Gym. Come here right now and let me soothe your poor, unfortunate, nearly-damaged soul." He was chuckling now.

"Bye, Edward. Save a seat for me at lunch."

"Don't worry," I heard him say, "I'll get the three-seater table so Jessica can join in our conversation!"

I shook my head and started to change into my kit.

* * *

I heard someone thundering up the stairs. It could only be one person, for only he knew where the spare key was.

"Bella, please come outside. I can't stand looking and talking to her. She keeps on asking me to date her! Still! As if!" He plonked himself onto my bed and sighed heavily.

"Edward! You've made my bed-sheets wet! Get off!" I flapped a huge towel at his head, which cause his bobble hat to fall off. His ears, nose and cheeks were red and there were droplets of water on his eyelashes. His lips were a wonderful deep red. His eyes were topaz and ochre, golden orbs of wonder. His facial features were, as always, perfect and angular—high cheekbones, a strong jawline, a straight nose, and full lips. His hair was a bronze-shaded mess. I was captivated by his orbs and I was sure my mouth was hanging open like a moron. He looked really quite beautiful.

"Bella? Hell-lloo? See something you like?" He teased. I blushed violently, and looked away somewhere else because I was literally mouth raping him.

"Whatever. Okay, fine, I'll come out. Give me a few minutes." I got off my bed and walked to my closet. I picked out a huge coat and a thick pair of gloves, along with a fluffy scarf that my mom had bought for me.

"Edwaaarrrdddd?" I bit my lip. "Could I borrow your hat? Please?" I blinked.

"Of course. Here." He 'frisbeed' his hat across the room and it landed full on my face.

"Who switched the lights off?" I joked. I heard footsteps getting closer and Edward pulled the hat off my face.

"Really, Bella, seriously?" He leaned down and kissed my forehead, and I blushed from my hairline to my toes.

I swear, when his lips had touched my head, I had felt some sort of electricity humming between our bodies. "Come on, let's go outside? I'll try not to get you wet. Hurry up and get changed. I'll be waiting at the foot of the stairs to catch you when you fall. Heh." He said in a 'sing-song' voice and shook his head while walking out the room.

I sighed. What was it with Edward and kisses? I mean, I didn't have a problem with it, but ever since my 14th birthday, he would brush his lips against my cheeks, graze my forehead... He had never kissed me full on the lips- I blushed at the thought- but my cheeks, forehead, hair, wrists, palms, fingers... I guess it was just his 'way'. I put on my coat and gloves, tied my scarf around me and shivered. Dear God, if you're out there, help me!

I tumbled out the room like a hurricane yet walked down the stairs carefully. As Edward had predicted, I caught my foot on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs and went flying. Bracing myself for the impact of the cold, hard, wooden floor, I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt a pair of cold arms wrap around me.

"Bella. What did I tell you? Catch you when you fall, hmm? Only you, Bella, only you." He was smiling crookedly again, I saw.

"Thanks, Edward." I blushed furiously. He picked up my hand and pressed his cold lips to the visible part of my wrist. "Come on, the snow's waiting for us!" Edward ran out the mahogany door.

I rolled my eyes and followed him. I was sure my cheeks were red at this moment. Another kiss. Oh, well, you can't hear me complaining...

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**A/N: Oh, wow! I cannot believe that just happened. Ooh, tension, tension...**

**So, was it what you expected? If it was, review! If it wasn't, also review! Please, I wanna know your thoughts to this, so I know how to continue.**

**By the by, Edward and Bella are 14 in this chapter. Last chapter, they were 13 years old. I'm not going to tell you all how old they will be when ExB finally takes place- I'm not too sure myself, so hang in there and keep spreading the Twilight love. :)**

**Also, they won't grow a year older as each chapter goes by- I wanted that 'flashback' sorta thing so in each chapter, something will happen that reminds Bella of a memory, which she will then recall. I hope you're all fine with that. **

**Please review. I cannot stress it enough that reviews are important to me. I would like to reach a target of 30 at least. And so far I have 17. Which is amazing, so thanks, but I really want this... As much as I want there to be an Edward and Jacob in this dreary old world.**

**Any questions, review and ask. If you don't (or do) have an account and have a question for me regarding the story, ask me through a review and I will answer in my next A/N. But _only_ if it is relevant to the story.**

**Love!**

**ImprintMeJacob x**


	3. Calculus Half Kisses

**Another chapter up! Thank you all for the awesomesauce reviews! I cannot believe that I have this many, already! It's amazing! I seriously love you guys.**

**Oh, yeah and as I mentioned in the summary, this story is Rated T _for a reason_ so I'm warning you now, there is some mild, coarse language in this chapter. If you don't like mild, coarse language, please do not read this chapter.**

**This third chapter is broken down into two sections. The next part will be the conclusion to this chapter, but will not have the same chapter name. Like it, love it, hate it, whatever. Just have fun going into a world of your own...**

**Thanks must go to my beautiful beta, My Vampire Sparkles, for putting up with my rubbish, and also to my stunning friend Posh for helping me out with this chapter.**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, but Jacob is mine. And Edward has been reserved for a few of my friends. Enjoy!**

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Bella POV

"Charlie!" I bellowed when I heard the bell ringing. "Could you get the door? I'm busy with Calculus!" It was probably Sue Clearwater with our food. Ever since my grandma had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Renee had moved over to Florida with her brother, Phil, so she could take care of her mom. Sue was my dad's best friend's wife and would bring the food four times a week so we wouldn't starve- Charlie had no more knowledge of cooking than a newborn baby did. And Sue was a really nice person, with two children who I adored. Seth and Leah Clearwater were very good friends of mine. I must admit, when I saw Leah and her arrogant self for the first time, I didn't really like her. But she was really nice and her brother treated me like his sister too. Anyway, two days would be spent at The Lodge, Charlie's favourite restaurant. I didn't particularly enjoy the food, but if it kept my father happy, I couldn't care less what I was eating, whether it was a vegeburger or fries and Coke. Sunday's would be spent at Edward's house. And, dang, Esme Cullen could _cook_.

I continued with my Calculus homework. It was proving very difficult and I was starting to hate the guy who invented it more and more every second. For the past few nights, I had been putting in a lot of extra effort into my homework because today was the day I had been looking forward to for my whole life. Well, not really my whole life, but since Edward told me that he had organized a slumber party for us. By us, he meant me, my best friend Alice who also happened to be Edward's sister, her boyfriend Jasper, his sister Rosalie, and her boyfriend Emmett. We six were going to stay over at Edward's 'mansion' for five whole nights. It was going to be an epic voyage of epicness…

… But it would be an epic _fail _if I didn't get this work done. Charlie had allowed me to go on one condition- if all my homework was finished. All my holiday homework, including the two projects, three essays and million worksheets. I had finished most of the work, but I had never been any good at Calculus. Edward was, obviously, a genius at everything. And that annoyed me. How could someone be so perfect all around? He had the looks, the personality, the brain, the mystery and the intrigue. Ugh, I needed to stop this, or I would be getting nowhere. I closed my eyes and heard the sweet singing of birds, and the rough squawking of seagulls. I sighed and wilted down on my bed like a dead flower.

I could also hear hushed conversation downstairs. It didn't sound like a woman, so it couldn't have been Sue. It was a velvety, rich, smooth voice, which sounded just like... Like honey. Like melted chocolate with whip cream. It was Edward.

After that diminutive musing, I came to my senses, and scrambled off my bed, staring subconsciously at myself in my mirror. Edward? What was he doing here? We were supposed to be at his house by five, not… I looked down at my watch. It was only two thirty. What was Edward doing here then? I heard the creaking of the stairs and suddenly, Edward had bounded into my room.

"Hey, Bella." He greeted me cheerfully, pressed his cold lips to my blistering cheek and flopped down on my bed, smiling crookedly. As my face turned beetroot, I thought oh, no, not again. I concentrated on breathing evenly. It wasn't working. Oh, shit.

"Erh. Uhm. Hi. What're you doing here? It's not time for the slumber party yet." I couldn't look into his eyes or I would probably die of shock. I averted my gaze to his shoes and sat down beside him. Jesus, they were red Converse. What an immense name. Grapefruit. Swiss Cheese. Pineapples. Gah! My mind was fumbling around so bad, I couldn't think straight. I looked up to his jeans. Skinny jeans. Gumph. _Really_ skinny jeans, so tight that... Oh my God, distracted, much? Was he turning Emo on me or something? He wore a Linkin' Park hoodie, which, might I just add, clung perfectly to his muscled, well-toned body. He wore a coat on top. A grey coat. I was sure my mouth was literally hanging over his feet. He slipped his Converse off the edge of my bed and said,

"Bella, you need help, right? For Calculus? Well, I'm here. Shoot. But, one thing first." He crossed his legs and looked at me seriously, an intense gaze in his eyes as he brought his hand towards my lips...

* * *

"Hey, Bella, are you going to the party at Emmett's house on Friday night?" Edward asked me. I shuddered. I wasn't a big fan of parties, especially those that Emmett threw.

"Probably. But I really don't want to, Edward. Can't we just... Ditch?"

"Bella, how long have you known Emmett? I'm sure it has been long enough to know that with my _dear_ friend Emmett, it's either be there or be square." He chuckled. It was a sound that put those tinkling wind chimes to shame.

"Yeah, I know. But I'm coming over to your house and we can go together, okay? And, Alice will probably wanna Bella Barbie me. Ugh." I cringed.

"Don't worry about it, Bella." He kissed my knuckles and nuzzled his nose on my wrist. It was like Edward was... Smelling me? I blushed and turned away.

"Alright, sure. Look at me, everyone. I'm not a party pooper." I muttered. This was gonna be a long week.

On the day of the party as asked- no, wait, let me rephrase that- as _demanded_ by Alice, I was to arrive at the Cullen house three and a half hours before leaving for Emmett's place.

I waited nervously on the doorstep, tapping my foot in beat to the music from my headphones.

"Hi, Bella!" Alice tiptoed to hug my neck. I might have been short, but Alice was a pixie compared to me. "Oh, you do smell good! Yum! And take those wretched wires out of your ears, honey. Don't come moaning to me when you shatter your ear drums. You and Edward were made for each other. He would die without his stupid iPod." She giggled.

"Okay... Alice, that was so awkward. Don't hate my music! Oh, the smell is something Renee sent me in a parcel a while ago of some beauty stuff. There was some strawberry shampoo, so I used it today." I said, shrugging my shoulders as I pulled the headphones out of my ears and shoved the red device into my pocket harshly.

Alice leaned forward and inhaled again. "Hm, it's really nice."

"Whatever." I was still angry about the Bella Barbie thing.

"Come on, Bella, we're gonna have so much fun!" She dragged me into her house and literally frog marched me to her room.

I looked around and sighed heavily. Alice had never really gotten out of the 'pink and fluffy' stage. Her hot pink walls consisted of Leonardo Di Caprio, Justin Timberlake and Orlando Bloom.

"Bella, just sit down on the chair. You look like you're gonna pass out. Stick your head between your knees or something, 'cuz if you throw up on my bed, I will seriously kill you. Okay? I'm just gonna get the curlers and your dress. You'll love it!" She skipped out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts.

I closed my eyes, imagining what Alice had in store for me. A strapless? An LBD? I shook my head and shuddered. What shoes had she picked out for me? I could hardly walk straight in pumps, so heels would be a disaster. I bit my bottom lip. Crap. I was starting to feel a bit light headed. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if I did sit down and take Alice's advice.

Alice waltzed in the room, like a ballerina. Why couldn't I be that graceful? I stood up and walked towards her king sized bed, bracing myself for the nightmare that lay ahead.

"Okay, Bella, here it is! I hope you like it. Esme and Rose came with me to choose it, especially for you." She squealed loudly and I winced at the level of her voice. She thrust a plastic dry cleaning bag into my arms. I carefully unzipped the bag on her silky pink duvet. I saw a beautiful purple baby doll dress with a huge gilded golden belt and matching floral high heels. Like five inch heels. Alice laughed, and I snapped my mouth shut, grinding my teeth together.

"It's lovely, Al, but I am most definitely not wearing this. Don't you think it's a bit... Over the top? Those shoes are killers! And, I mean, it's only a party..." I trailed off, and looked at the beautiful dress and murderous shoes again. Wow. I was so gonna fall flat on my face with them.

"_Only_ a party? Bella, this is really important to me. Please? Jasper is gonna be there and all these other boys and we girls need to show 'em what we got! Please?" I saw her eyes. She looked genuinely upset about what I had said. What the hell?

"Okay, if we must." I saw Alice grin in the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes and started to take the baby doll out of the bag. Alice's hand grabbed mine before I could touch the silky material.

"Bella, what about your hair and make-up? We can't leave that to the end! Come here." She led me to her dresser and sat me down.

I sat down gingerly and closed my eyes. "Okay, Alice, Bella Barbie me."

I let Alice get to work and I felt sponges, brushes, liquids and solids move across my face. I swear, at one point, I could actually feel some gaseous stuff fly across my face. I needed to think of something else to get my mind off this horror and three guesses what came into my head? More like who... I just kept on thinking about Edward. Would he like my dress? Would he think I looked pretty or too caked up in make-up? Would he laugh at me, stumbling along with high heels? I shook my head mentally and scolded myself. What did it matter what Edward thought, anyway? He was just my best friend, nothing more, nothing less.

Finally, Alice's hand stopped moving. I opened my eyes carefully and peeked under my lashes into the huge ruby-framed mirror. I saw an utterly, heartbreakingly beautiful, pale girl staring back at me, with creamy, rosy skin. Her eyes were framed with thick lashes and excitement. Her crimped, dark hair was flowing over her shoulders. I couldn't believe it was me.

"Thanks, Alice." She said smugly. I laughed as I understood her hint.

"Yeah, seriously, Al, thank you. I look like one of your fairy princess play dolls."

"Hey! I do not play with princesses! Since when was Tinkerbell a princess?"

I grinned and looked at myself in the mirror again. I needed to see what I looked like in the dress. For the first time in my life, I was excited about a dress. Oh, dear God, I hoped I wasn't gonna grow into a plastic lump. Alice must have seen that I was beyond excited to put the dress on, though, because she said,

"Go on, put it on. You're gonna look amazing. Okay, I'm just gonna go and tell Edward to get ready. It's nearly time." Alice pranced out of the room and closed the door behind her. I realised that I was biting my glossy lip as I felt the slippery glitter beneath my tongue. I removed my lip from my teeth and took off all my clothes. I took a deep breath and zipped up the baby doll. I tied the belt around my upper waist and put on the heels. Precisely at the second I was done tying up the strap on the shoes, Alice walked in. She smiled at me and said,

"Bella, you look beautiful. So freakin' pretty." She sighed in contentment and I rolled my eyes.

"Alice, is Edward ready?" I winced as I said his name. How odd.

"Yeah, he's been ready for three hours, poor guy. Haha. Okay, give me ten minutes and I'll be done. Go on, shoo outta here. You can go downstairs, if you want, Edward's in the kitchen." I walked out the room carefully. I still wasn't sure about these heels, however sexy they looked. I was sure to fall down with these.

I tiptoed around outside in the hallway for a bit, and then went outside Edward's room. I lifted my hand to knock, but realised that he wouldn't be in there. I decided to wait for Ali before going downstairs. I was still a bit scared.

Alice was ready, as she had promised, in ten minutes. She was wearing a red and black floral halter neck, with a huge black bow behind her waist. I wolf-whistled and Alice giggled.

"Jasper gonna get it bad, Al. You look... Magical." That was the only word I could use to describe her. Her cropped, deep black hair was sticking up in every direction and she had a small matching hair clip pinned to her fringe.

Alice beamed and took hold of my clammy hand. She squeezed it tightly. "Relax, Bella, relax. Okay, it's time. Let's get this party started." I cringed visibly but followed her down the stairs slowly. Just as I had predicted, I tripped over my foot on the first step, but before I went flying to Jupiter, a pair of strong, cold hands grabbed my waist from behind.

"Gumph. Ughn. Ubh..." Edward chocked. I spun around and looked up at him. His eyes were bulging dramatically and his mouth was at my feet. He could have been licking my floral heels for all I knew, but his golden orbs held my chocolate eyes prisoner. I pulled my eyes away and looked at my waist, where his fingers were lingering on my belt. Edward let go, quickly composed himself and cleared his throat.

"Bella, you look... Pretty." He looked away quickly and I blushed.

"Thanks. But... You...What were you doing up here? Ali said you were downstairs. And, uhn, you don't look too bad yourself, Edward. Nice." I noted. He had a tight fitting white t-shirt on, with a hooded, blue jacket and a pair of skinny jeans, and I just couldn't stop ogling at him. He was looking me up and down and I was starting to feel extremely self conscious. I think I was definitely overdressed for some sad party. Why couldn't I wear a hoodie and jeans or something _normal_ too?

"I, uh, came up here to get my iPod." He held up the blue rectangle and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

I smoothed the frills on my dress and gripped the banister. Please don't fall, please don't fall... I was chanting over and over in my head. I took a step and let out a mini breath. And another step and another, until I was on level ground again. I turned around and saw Edward looking down at my feet. He chuckled and I rolled my eyes. He had probably been wondering why I had been taking such small steps, but found his answer when he looked at my feet. I blushed again and cursed my pale skin, looking down. Edward leaned forward and his fingertips brushed lightly against my cheek, his thumb slanting my head upwards to look into his eyes.

"Bella," He whispered, while his face tilted towards mine. I could even feel his sweet, cold breath on my face, he was that close, and my eyes rolled back at the sensation...

"Isabella!" Edward and I jumped a foot apart and both looked away awkwardly. Curse Alice for walking in on us... What? Walking in on us? What was going on in my freaky brain? I concentrated more on Alice and listened to her telling us what was going on now.

"Okay, Esme and Carlisle both are gonna take their cars, 'cuz all of us aren't gonna fit in one together." I remembered Jasper and Rosalie were gonna come over to Emmett's with us as well, so I nodded. Rosalie was supposed to go beforehand but wanted Alice to do her make-up for her. What can I say? Alice had that effect over people. And no one ever looked bad when Alice was done with them. I just had to take another look at myself in the mirror to prove that.

"But, Al, which car do me and Edward go in?"

"Well, _you_ have a choice," She said, glaring at Edward when he started interrupting, "You can either sit with me and Rose in Esme's car, or with Edward and Jazz in Carlisle's. Make up your mind quickly, or Emmett will kill us for being late."

"Uhm, can I sit with Edward? But, just us two?" I faced him, and saw him smile crookedly. Oh, holy craaap, I sang. Quick, Bella, breathe. Breathe. I blinked twice and saw that he was looking at me... lovingly? Oh, I was such a freak of nature, it was unnatural. Why wouldn't my brain function coherently nowadays? I looked into Alice's eyes and said, "We need to, uhm, go over our Biology homework..." What a lame excuse. But Edward and I hadn't talked all day so we had a lot of best friend catching up to do.

"Course, babe, I totally believe you. You two lovebirds are inseparable, I know, I know. Come on, Jazz, let's go. Our heads won't be on the chopping board if we leave right now. See you at the party, guys." I heard her shout Rosalie's name as she stepped outside.

I gave Alice's small, bobbing head an evil eye and twirled to face Edward.

"So, uhm, I hope you're okay with this. I mean, if you wanna ride with Jazz, there's still time before their car leaves..." I looked away awkwardly.

"Bella, shut up. It's fine. Absolutely. Let's go now, because for once in her life, my sister is right. Emmett will slice our heads off if we're not at his place on time." He pulled my hand towards his face, kissed my palm and walked towards the door, giving me a small smile. I reddened and followed in his wake.

* * *

"Bella? Sorry, you just had something on your lips. I think it was maple syrup. Did ya have pancakes for lunch or something?" He joked. I couldn't respond. I was still replaying the scene in my head of Edward bring his hand towards my face and brushing the lower lip with his finger... It had felt so soft and so _right_. I actually thought for a second there that he was going to... Going to kiss me. Like, give me a proper kiss. I blushed at the thought. I needed to see a therapist about this, and desperately.

My mouth popped open as I saw his face falter slightly when I failed to respond. I caught hold of myself and said,

"Yeah, actually, my pancakes are the best. You should know. How many did you have the other day? Nine? Or was it ten? And what were you talking to Charlie about just now?" I demanded, shaking my head.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." He said, smiling deviously. "And, Bella, you're a girl. Of course you're gonna be good at making pancakes. Your job is to cook." He looked at me, my jaw tightening at his response and he hastily added, "Kidding, honey, kidding." I was a true feminist, through and through.

I smiled smugly and pushed his arm playfully. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, holding his lips tenderly there for a few seconds, before pulling away. He pulled me into his arms from behind and crushed my back to his chest, his lips on my head. I was very surprised by this, mainly because I knew what it would look like if Charlie or anybody else walked into the room at this minute. My dad would probably bust a vein and chuck Edward out onto the street. However, I felt very comfortable in his arms, so I stayed in this position for a while, my body fitting into his perfectly, playing with his icy fingers. I twisted my head to look into his smouldering eyes and said softly,

"So how do I do this **lim f(x) = L** thingy?"

Edward sighed heavily and pushed me back onto the bed from his lap gently, but not before tapping my nose.

"Okay, so you have to make this into a balanced version..."

* * *

**I'm so sorry for not updating this quicker but I was busy studying for exams this January. However, now I am all done until the beginning of June, so hopefully I can post a few more chapters during my 'free time'.**

**Sorry about the Calculus thing, I was not really sure about what question or whatever to use. I hope it sounds alright...**

**Anyway, the actual sleepover part, as I said in the beginning, will be in the next chapter and I hope to finish that by the third week of February and no later. I can't just leave you all hanging, can I? And by the by, Bella and Edward are both 15 in this chapter. ****A slumber party at the tender age of 15 might sound like a stupid and immature idea, but, come on, everyone needs a bit of fun in their life, even fictional characters that do not exist!**

******And I'm really sorry for these long A/N's. I promise that I will try as hard as I can to cut down on them. Cross my heart and hope to fry.**

**Lastly, (no, really, this is the last part...) please review this chapter! It will make me so happy to know what you guys think and whether what you think is good or bad, just please let me know your thoughts so I can attempt to improve on my weak points- nobody's perfect, guys. Though I might make an exception for Jacob... And Edward...**

**Love!**

**ImprintMeJacob x**


	4. Lipstick Tricks and Zoid Attacks

**Thank you again for all the reviews. I love you guys so much, it's unreal. The support you give, even when you don't have an inkling of the real me, is amazing because frankly, even my closest friends aren't like that. And to anyone reading who does know the weird and freaky me just ignore all the above. :P**

**Happy Heart Day for the 14th, by the by, and may all your wishes and whatnots come true... Happy Heart Day, Valentines Day, Love Day, Stalk Taylor Lautner Day, Robessed day or what-e-ver you wanna call it...**

**Ooh, and a very Happy Belated Birthday to my favourite person on Earth, Mr. Taylor Lautner. The 11th of February is now officially my favourite day of the year! I love yooouuu!**

**Once again mild and coarse language has been splashed and sloshed carelessly in this chapter. If ya don't like, don't read. Simple, really.**

**Thanks to my dazzling Beta, My Vampire Sparkles. (Did ya see what I did there? Dazzling, sparkles...? Awh never mind.) Without you, I would be nothing. And thanks must also go to Posh for helping me out. As usual. Why can't I do anything by myself! The answer is straightforward, really. I'm spoilt. :)**

**So, this is part two of the sleepover. Hope you enjoy it!**

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* * *

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Bella POV

"Crap!" I said, "I'm so sorry, Rose. Really. God I'm such a klutz." Emmett went to pick her off the ground, while Alice squealed with laughter. Edward was by her side with his lips pulled into a straight, tight line as if he was trying to stop himself from laughing.

Rosalie rubbed her tender forehead and winced. "I'm fine, Bella. You just... caught me off guard, that's all." Jasper, her brother, chuckled softly.

Six of us were in the Cullen garden, playing volleyball. Well, we had been playing. That was until Klutzy Bella had ruined the day. I had asked Edward if I could sit out, but he had told me to play 'for him'. And, of course, I would do anything under the power of those golden, exquisite orbs. Somehow, when I had been trying to thump the ball back to Alice, I mistook it for Rosalie's head and knocked her to the ground. Hard.

"Aw, Bella, it wasn't your fault. It's just in your... Uhm, your genes."

"Alice, that's a whole load of crap and you know it. But I'm really sorry, Rose. Can we just go inside and play something else? Truth or Dare? Please, Edward, please? Alice? Please? Come on, I said _Truth or Dare_. Let's play!"

"You are really going to regret that you ever said that, Bella." Alice said, her eyes gleaming manically.

"Ugh, I know but I can't risk hurting someone else...Really, I still feel bad..." I trailed off and looked at Rose's red forehead.

"Hell to the yes, I agree with Bells. I never knew that Bella had so much strength in her tiny body." Emmett guffawed, shaking his huge body with laughter, and I shot him a dark look. He silenced almost immediately and a tiny smile played at my lips.

Once inside the living room we all sat down in a circle, Edward to my right, Alice on my left, Jasper on Alice's other side and Rosalie between Emmett and Jasper. Edward's eyes were real shifty and I frowned.

"Edward? Got a secret you don't want to tell anyone?" I wormed my eyebrows up and down. He looked up to meet my eyes and smirked. My heart went into overdrive.

"Yeah, all good Bella but yes actually, my deepest, darkest secret of my entire existence." He stopped smiling, bent down towards my face and kissed my cheek. His cold lips touched me with the slightest pressure, I felt like we were both in heaven. As soon as he pulled away after those few seconds, his smouldering eyes clouded over a bit. My heart rate picked up as I blushed and looked away while scolding my pathetic heart for acting in this way. Why did his words make me feel like they were directed indirectly to me?

Alice suddenly screeched, causing everyone around her to wince. I was so deep into my thoughts that I jumped out my skin and had to press hard against my chest or these guys were going to think that I owned a badly behaved pet frog in my red and white checkered chest pocket. Mind you, the way we all reacted must have shown that we owned an army of badly behaved pet frogs.

"Drama queens," Alice said, shaking her head as she saw us flinch at the level and pitch of her voice. "I just forgot the bottle!" She jumped up and danced gracefully to the kitchen.

I bit my lip. I was suddenly starting to feel very... Self-conscious. I wondered why and then went back on that thought. The game was called Truth or Dare. So obviously there was gonna be some serious 'truthing' this afternoon.

Alice pranced back into the room, bottle in hand.

"So, who wants to go first? My blushing baby Bella? Or should the queen of all bitches, Rose, go first? Boys, how 'bout one of you...?" She started to place the bottle in the middle but before it had touched the ground Edward's pale hand swiped it.

"Alice, get to it already. I'm so nervous." I tapped my foot beneath my crossed legs.

"Okay, I'm gonna spin the bottle and whoever it points to must go first." She held her hand out impatiently, waiting for Edward to pass it to her. He put up one finger, indicating for her to wait. Edward leaned towards me, brought his lips to my ear and said, his breath tickling my earlobe, "Rose is going first, don't worry." He smiled devilishly at me and passed the bottle to Alice. She licked her lips. "Here goes!"

She spun the bottle, with an articulate flick of her tiny wrist. It slowed and slowed and every time it inched past me, I sighed. I could hear Edward doing the same thing.

As Edward had predicted it stopped in front of Rose. She pouted her lips and looked at Emmett sorrowfully. He held up his hands and shook his head. "Rosie, baby, I can't do anything. Sorry."

"Fine. Go ahead. I choose... Yeah, go on then, a dare."

Alice beamed at the rest of us. "Anyone have any suggestions?"

"Just get her to lock lips with Emmett. It won't be too hard for them. I'm sure they'll be able to manage," Jasper mumbled. Rosalie slapped the back of his head and threw him a few daggers. We all sniggered. It was true- at school, Emmett and Rose had been caught many, many times in the janitor's closet. Not a very comfortable place, Rose had told me, especially when other couples would try and use the same place, but it was 'convenient'. Stopping the other couples (and often the janitor himself) by wedging some wood under the door always worked. Heh, suuurree, I had thought, that was why they had been caught so many times.

"Noo, that's rubbish. Like Jazz said it's not going to be that hard." Alice giggled. "No, we need a good dare. And I have it! Rose, I dare you to kiss my brother." I immediately looked up from the floor. Edward? But... But he was mine... What? I really needed a therapist now. Really. I glanced over to Edward and his eyes were fixed on me. I suddenly realized that they were coal black. I blushed as Alice said,

"Bella, it's a kiss, it's not like they're gonna try to get together after this. Chill. He's still yours. Just look at him."

I blushed harder, if that was possible and looked at Edward. His eyes were a brilliant colour of gold, with green coloured specks in them. They were a wonderful colour and I was sure those green flecks had appeared from nowhere. My heart stuttered to a sudden stop and I definitely knew that now I was losing it, I was really losing it. Bad. Would hypnosis work? Maybe I could find a therapist who also did hypnosis...

"Rosie Posie, one kiss, okay? And if you don't stop at that, well, shit, I'm dumping you!" Emmett joked. She smacked his head and Emmett grimaced theatrically.

"Edward, are you okay with that? It's just a peck. Come on, bro, it's no biggie. We're all friends here. Just kiss her like you kiss Bella all the time. But on the lips for Rose." Alice shrugged but Edward ducked his red face when she mentioned my name. He seemed slightly embarrassed that someone had noticed the... Half-kisses or whatever you could call them. Well, he looked more… I couldn't put my finger on it, but I don't think it was embarrassment. It seemed a bit more than that.

"Uh. Sure. But can we go out of the room? Please?" He looked at Rosalie. My chin must've been dented now, 'cuz when Edward agreed my jaw dropped to the creamy carpet.

"Yeah, sure, if that's what you want. But you have to do the dare, okay, Rose?"

"Course. Come on, Edward." She tried to sound seductive, but Edward grimaced and looked over to me. I stared down at the floor before he made my heart play athletics.

Rose and Edward walked out the room and closed the door.

We all sat in silence, waiting for a sign to tell us what was going on. But all we could hear was muted conversation outside.

"Guys, you're supposed to be kissing, not exchanging life stories, you freakazoids! Hurry up, already!" Alice rolled her eyes, but my face lit up. They weren't going to kiss? I swear, fireworks went off in my heart. Because... Edward would still be my best friend, nothing less. Or more, my musings added dryly.

And the door opened. Rose came in looking all smug and Edward sauntered in with a smear of red lipstick on his lip. I gasped. He looked so beautiful. But he had Rosalie's lipstick on his lips. Not mine... I shook my head. Not mine? I was going mad! Literally. I needed help, and I was deliberating whether to call Charlie now or before we went to sleep when Edward's hand squeezed mine. I looked into his eyes and my heart thumped unevenly. I pointed to my lips and looked down at his. A perfect curve. So soft and... I mentally smacked myself. I needed to keep a distance from him, because my sanity was straying from me. Even though the distance thing would never work out. He frowned at my gesture, so I pointed to the mirror. He got up and looked at his reflection. With a sharp intake of breath, he wiped it off with the back of his hand, frantically rubbing. I averted my eyes and my heart sank like a stupid, dismal brick in water. I could feel a tugging in my heart, as if someone had wrenched it apart. Don't even ask why.

Edward sat back beside me and smiled cautiously. I chewed my lip, gave a tiny smile back and faced Alice again so she could revolve the bottle and get this dull game over with.

Emmett picked up the bottle and flashed a scary smile at us all. He spun the glass bottle that once contained 250 milliliters of pomegranate juice with such force that it was on the verge of cracking from the air pressure. I took a deep breath every time it crawled- well, more like spun- passed me. And it landed facing Jasper.

Alice squealed and clapped her small hands together.

"My Southern Man, it's you. So, truth or dare?" She wiggled her eyebrows invitingly.

"Uhm, I'm gonna be a wimp and say truth. What can I say," he said, rolling his words like those people from Texas did.

Emmett hooted out loudly. "Awh, is ickle, lickle Jazzy scarwed? Anyway, I have a question for you. Who was your sister's first kiss? She said she will never tell me so I might as well get it outta you!"

"Jasper, tell him and you die. Anyway, Em, baby, it's a question 'bout Jazz, not me!"

Jasper looked momentarily wavered but as soon as Rose spoke, he gave Emmett a knowing grimace. "Sorry, Emmett. When Rose says 'you die', you actually do die."

"If you want to play like that, then get this- what was your first kiss' name?"

Alice looked expectantly at Jasper and he looked a little uncomfortable. He squirmed and said,

"Well, it was this girl -"

Alice interrupted and said, "No, it was a boy then." Jasper narrowed his eyes at her and continued,

"A girl from my home town. Her name was Maria. Al, don't be jealous, I didn't love her like I do you. I won't ever love anyone else either." He stated firmly.

"Ugh, shut up already with the lovey-dovey crap." Edward rolled his eyes vividly.

"No, wait, how did you know I was jealous? Not that I really was but still..."

"Alice, I'm no empath but I can smell the envy on you." Alice smiled mockingly and gave Jasper a fearless kiss.

"Was she pretty?" Alice asked suddenly.

"Hey, hey, my question time is over. Over," he emphasized when Alice objected.

"Okay, fine. I'll get it out you another time then. Who wants to spin the bottle?"

"I'll do it. I haven't really done much, have I?" I swiftly wiped the perspiration onto my jeans and took hold of the bottle in my hand.

"Well, here goes." I spun the bottle and sat back again. And three guesses who it pointed at.

"Bella, only you have all the misfortune. No one ever spins a bottle and gets it to land facing them." Edward chuckled and the sound of tinkling chimes filled my ears.

"Glad to know that I amuse you," I said, wryly.

"You sure do, Bella." He leaned down and kissed my forehead tenderly. I blushed and Alice scoffed.

"Pff, and you tell me and Jazz to stop with the 'lovey-dovey crap.' Get a room, guys. Seriously."

I rolled my eyes, and Edward mirrored my actions.

"So, truth or dare, Bella? Choose wisely."

"Not dare, 'cuz I'll end up injuring myself, or worse, someone else." I looked at Rose when I remembered the recent accident. "I... Uhm... Truth."

"Well, okay then. My question is –"

"Go straightforward on her, okay Alice? She isn't like you and Rose. Ask her a rational question." Edward looked at me and his face reddened. I'm sure mine did too.

"Awh, Eddie-bear is blushing! Just look at him. What a cutie!" Emmett cooed.

"It's just hot in here." Edward shrugged, but avoided my inquisitive eyes. I turned back to Alice and grimaced.

"Can I back out? Please? I'll make Edward do your laundry for a month. And I'll come shopping with you for a week. No, scrap that, a month."

"Hey! Don't bring me into this, Bella. Forget it, Alice, no way. Your reeking smell follows me everywhere!" Edward yelled.

"Bella thanks, but no thanks." Alice replied, glaring furiously at her brother. "As tempting as it is, I'm saying a definite no no. I really wanna know this, and as your best friend, I have a right to know." Alice replied, and I closed my eyes in defeat.

"Bella... Who was your first kiss?"

* * *

"Are you sure? I don't think this looks right…" I trailed off. I was supposed to be going to Angela Weber's house for her twin brothers' party. Angela invited a selection of her school friends so she wouldn't be wedged between little kids screaming for jelly and ice cream. Edward and I had really gotten to know Angela well and Edward really liked her personality- she was such a giving and generous person, it was hard to ignore. She was an incredibly close friend of ours, and so we had both agreed to grace the party with our presence.

Jessica 'Freakazoid Urchin' Stanley had also been invited and, much to my regret, Mike 'Creepazoid' Newton. I was getting good at naming people with 'Zoid'. First Jessica, now Mike… Ugh, I loathed Mike dearly- he was… Obsessed with me, to say the very least. Always holding my hand and helping me pick up my books and pens when I tripped over my feet after a lesson. He thought he was like Edward, always there to help me. The difference was, Edward was my best friend and Mike wanted something more than friendliness. Although Edward and I had similar interests, our timetables were not synchronized. While Edward had Spanish, I had Physical Ed., while I had Spanish, he had Calculus. The only two subjects we had together were English and Biology. These were my two favourite lessons and Edward had something- no, everything- to do with that. Every time a lesson ended, Mike bloody Newton was there to infuriate me. He kept on asking me out and whenever he charged towards me, I ran out the classroom and cringed into Edward's chest. He held me there protectively. Well, I should say over-protectively- he actually growled whenever he saw Mike. I should've started calling him Mr. Mountain Lion from then.

"Bella, this dress is simple and pretty- just an everyday dress." Alice shrugged off my innocence.

"Just an everyday dress? Alice, I'm pretty sure Madonna wore this last year at the Oscars." I shuddered violently at the sight of the bright and sparkling green dress and said,

"Fine, just let me put it on, and then we can go to Ange's."

There was a knock at the door and someone spoke,

"Bella? Are you ready? We need to go in a bit." He chuckled and I blushed, even though I couldn't see his gorgeous face. "Is Alice torturing you?" He laughed openly now and I could just imagine the crease around his golden eyes and him holding his stomach as if he was going to die from laughter. Alice's tinkling laughter joined in sarcastically.

"Har, har, not funny, _Eddie_. Bella looks really nice, FYI."

I heard silence. He was probably thinking about Alice's last comment and how on Earth I could possibly look nice. Then…

"I'll be the judge of that. Or, at least, Mike Newton will." He snarled ferociously. I heard retreating footsteps, and Edward walked away. I winced and contorted my expression, looking at Al.

"What?" She whispered. "Mike is in love with ya and you know it. Edward's just jealous."

"Jealous of _what_, Alice? We aren't going out and we never will." Alice liked Mike Newton, because he had once complimented her. It was pretty vulgar, but Jasper had dealt with that. But that's another story for another time.

"Whatever. Come on, put your dress on in Edward's room and then you can go to Angela's. Don't forget the present. Now shoo outta my space." I rolled my eyes. That last line had become Alice's most-loved saying, or something.

I took the dress, walked out the room, and stopped outside Edward's room. I tapped on the door and poked my head around it.

"Edward? Can I change in your room? Alice kicked me out."

Edward, who had been sitting on his bed casually, listening to his iPod, scrambled off and stuttered out,

"Yeah, sure. I'll just… Go." I beamed at him in thanks and he gave me a crooked smile in return. I flushed and closed the door behind him and Linkin' Park.

After I was dressed, I put on the pumps that Alice got me and slipped out the room silently. Edward was leaning against the wall, back first, with his foot planted on the wall as well, moving his head along with the music. When he looked up he froze, like a deer caught in the headlights. I avoided his stare, because he would surely be able to see my heart thumping in my chest through the thin material if he made me hyperventilate.

"So. You like?" I pivoted three hundred and sixty degrees and put my hands on my hips, pouting my lips slightly, like I had seen those models do.

"Ughn, uhm, yeah, you look really nice." Edward coughed and continued,

"Come on, Angela will be wondering where we are."

I nodded and bit my tongue. Yup, today was about Angela and her brothers, not that bi- I mentally smacked myself again and continued my musing, not that girl and certainly not Mike.

When we arrived at the party, I called the twins towards me and both of them assailed me from either side of my body and hugged me like they were never going to let go. When I gave them my present they ran away, ripping the paper off fiercely. But not before kissing my cheeks simultaneously when I bent down.

Edward laughed and shook his head at me.

"You're so good with children, Bella. When you have some of your own-" He stopped suddenly and his eyes bulged out hideously. I froze, a natural habit I had picked up from Edward when he was nervous about something.

"Uhm. Let's go get a drink and then see Angela. Let's go somewhere else, 'cuz I don't really want to get any food on this dress. Alice will kill me." What the heck was that about? I got lost at the word 'children', because Edward's smile made me forget everything.

Edward nodded quickly in agreement and raised my moist hand. He weaved his way through the crowd of kids, and it looked like he was dancing to the kiddies' music. I, on the other hand, looked like an unbelievably deformed slug. The lime green dress wasn't helping. I suddenly had an image of myself squirting out green slime, with antennas and no legs. Oh, dear.

Edward let go of my hand to pass me a drink and I took hold of it gratefully. I sipped it and nodded, letting Edward know it was nice. Whoever made this punch sure knew how to give the person on the other end a 'punch'. I was surprised that a drink so fizzy would be in the same room as a bunch of hyper and extremely jumpy kids. Maybe I should persuade Ange to pour it down the toilet or something before some random kid drank it, unless this is what they were already high on. We walked into the other room to find Angela, and ended up climbing the stairs after no such luck. We waited on the landing outside her families' bedrooms for some movement up there.

"Bella! Edward! There you guys are! I just lost Jessica and found you two." I spun round, gasping, clutching my throat. Angela was running out of the second door to my left.

"Awh, hey, Ange. What's cooking?" I hugged her and Edward smiled cheerfully.

"Nothing much, but if these boys and girls don't leave soon, I'm gonna be cooking them in the oven." Angela shook her head and laughed. "I just came up to grab a camera." She held up the silver metal and continued, "My mom wants a whole scrapbook filled with memories and because the boys are six today, she's really excited." Ange rolled her eyes.

"Is anyone else here yet?" I asked her.

"Yeah, Jessica and… And Mike." Edward stiffened and I reflected his actions. I could hear him breathing heavily.

"M-Mike's here?" I asked, hoping I hadn't heard her correctly. But I must've heard right the first time because of Edward's reaction and also due to the fact that his arms closed around me warmly, but with a string attached, as if he was trying to warn someone. Like saying 'she's mine' or something. I pushed that thought out of my head and lifted one hand up to stroke Edward's arm. I held his hand and intertwined our fingers.

"Yeah, he is. But if he tries anything, he'll be out on his backside, don't worry," Angela said comfortingly, putting her arm around me.

Edward looked at me and smiled, then pressed his lips to my forehead. Edward's sweet breath washed over me tranquilly. I leaned up to kiss his cheek too and I could feel the heat radiating off his skin. We were both blushing severely and Angela opened her mouth to say something and break the silence, when someone shouted my name from below.

"Bella! Wow, I sure am glad to see you here, babe. You have no freaking idea how hot you look right now." He was dragging his mass up the stairs and his words were slurred. When he had finally reached us, he pushed himself between Edward and me and pulled me close to his body, moving in for a kiss. I tried to back away but I met a wall behind me. Edward was standing directly opposite me. My eyes found his and they had widened a significant amount at the sight of what McIdiot was about to do. I couldn't run anywhere, 'cuz he had pinned me to a wall. I was sure a look of pure shock was on my face and because I really didn't want to kiss Mike, I turned my head to the side. Mike's rubbery lips found the corner of my mouth instead of my lips. I could literally taste the alcohol from his lips-the spot where he had kissed me burned. I retched and pushed him back.

Mike stumbled over slightly. Yup, deffo drunk. Where the hell did he get alcohol from at a kid's party? Stupid underage alcohol drinker. Ugh.

I had refrained myself from kissing him because I really _didn't_ like him, whatever Alice thought. Moving my head at that last second had been vital 'cuz then my first kiss would've been Mike, not Edward... That's it, my consciousness shouted at me, Edward is your best friend. Stop thinking about him, already!

But, my spawn of Satan said, he looked angry enough to kill when Mike went in for the kill. Doesn't that mean that he likes you too? Does he have feelings for you, like you have for him?

I shook my head at the devil and thanked what was left of my sanity. What feelings? Maybe I should start wearing a rubber band on my wrist and fling it at my skin whenever I think of stuff like this, which will be often. I could condition myself to stop thinking of Edward. I internally groaned and as I became aware of my surroundings, I realized that Edward had Mike pinned to a wall.

"Don't you _ever _touch her against her will again," He snarled ferociously.

"Edward, don't do this. He's drunk, he's not think strai-"

"She's not sure what she wants, and it definitely isn't _you,_ sucker boy." Mike spat, and Edward's grip on his neck tightened- I swear Mike's face was getting bluer by the second.

"Edward!" I screeched, trying to stop him from killing Mike. As much as I hated him, I didn't want my best friend to kill him. Or hospitalize him. Whichever came first. But this was getting out of hand. My private Satan hadn't been lying- Edward's features were distorted and he looked like a... Like a vampire or something, ready to drain Mike's neck. It was the first time I was really scared of him.

"Let me give you a clue!" Edward sustained his rant.

"Wait for her to say the words before you start molesting her!"

"Fine! And she will! You moron, Bella doesn't love you like she does me! And you will _never_ be hers!"

That did it. I tightened my fist, and using all my karate skills, I aimed a rigid punch at Mike's nose, remembering Charlie's advice and pushing my thumb in between my palm and clenched fingers. His nose made a very satisfying crunching sound of its own when my fist connected. I smiled sardonically at him and pulled Edward's hand in mine and grinned sheepishly. I apologized mentally to Angela, giving her a timid smile, but she just clapped her hands silently. I beamed at her then and attempted to walk down the stairs, but I tripped over my own foot on the third step. I was making a habit out of this, my thoughts said, as I waited, not for the impact this time, but for the cold, secure hands around my waist. As I had forecasted, Edward's hands were on my waist before I could tilt even forty-five degrees. He spun me around like a ballroom dancer did to his partner and kissed my cheek affectionately. Then he moved his hand to the small of my back and helped me down the stairs.

What an angel, Satan added smugly in my mind.

* * *

Edward stiffened beside me, as did I.

"So? Who was your first kiss? Come on, Bella, tell me!" Alice nudged me from across the circle.

"Uhm, I've never had a real kiss before. Sure, I've been, like, attacked, but never kissed." I looked up to meet Edward's eyes and he sank back into his original posture, flashing that winning killer smile.

"Attacked? Who hurt my Bella? Why don't I know this story?" Alice demanded.

"Alice it was Mike 'Creepazoid' Newton... Who else could it be?" Edward joked. "You do know this story."

"Yeah, sure, but that wasn't an attack. That was a... A half-kiss of some sort. 'cuz he kissed the corner and not her full lips." Alice tried to explain. I blushed and vowed mutely to never use or hear the word 'half-kiss' again, unless it be concerning Edward and his cheek, forehead, wrist or hair half-kisses. I'd have to block my ears out if Alice used it again.

"No, it was an attack." Edward said adamantly. "It's only a kiss, or 'half-kiss', as you so adequately put, if you like it. Bella didn't. End of."

"Sure, whatever you say, bro. I still think Mike is a nice guy..."

The game ended after a few more questions and dares because Alice was getting bored and a bored Alice was hell. I went up to Edward's room before we went to watch a movie at the cinema.

"Edward? Can I ask ya something? It's been bugging me since that stupid game. I'm not tryna be a jerk or anything. I'm honestly curious. But don't let me ask if you don't want it... I mean, don't ask... Ugh, can I ask you a question?" I repeated. We were standing awkwardly in the middle of his room and I was swaying slightly from side to side.

"Sure, what is it?" He chuckled and I blushed. Edward's presence alone made me spout so much crap sometimes, it was jarring.

"Well, uhm, downstairs, when we were playing Truth or Dare, you came back into the room with, uhm, Rose's lipstick on your lips... Well, this is more of a statement or something, but, uhm, that must've been some passionate, badass kiss." My voice broke off at the end, and I cursed myself for being such a retard. I plunked myself down onto the bean bag cushion, clearing my throat. It was the size of Africa (the bean bag, not my throat) and so both of us could easily fit on it with enough space to spare for a little Alice.

"No, actually, we didn't kiss." He was now blushing fit to bust. "Didn't you hear us talking?" Edward flopped down on the bean bag beside me, chewing his inner cheek.

"Yeah, but it went silent at the end and... Her lipstick..."

"Bella, I promise, I didn't kiss her. Obviously, Alice would need some proof that we did... Kiss, so she applied some of her glossy lipstick or whatever to my lips, so as to scam Alice. And, truthfully, Rosalie didn't really want to seem like a cheat, even though she wasn't technically cheating." He shrugged, as if it was no big deal. Well, no big deal, my near-broken ass! I had been fixated over my hatred for Rose after that moronic, bloody game. I knew for a definite fact that Edward had never been kissed. Attacked, just like me? Oh, yeah. There's another story for another time. But kissed? Nuh uh, nope, no way, just plain ol' no.

"Oh." Was all I could say. But my heart was leaping in joy. Edward wouldn't be fascinated with Rosalie's lips, of her figure or anything. I had to admit, now that I didn't dislike Rosalie, she put those Hollister and all those Abercrombie and Fitch models to complete shame. And she had to be at least four or five years younger than them. Currently, I had an awful lot more of respect for her. Emmett and Rosalie were perfectly suited to each other, and this was wonderful, 'cuz then this mini 'family' that we had created would be together forever.

"Why?" Edward interrupted my blazing thoughts. "Are you… Excuse me, but are you jealous?" Edward teased, feigning shock. God, he kept on bloody dazzling me! I kept a composed face, while averting my eyes from his and said,

"No, just curious. Like I said." I giggled at what I had just said. What a... Zoid.

He yanked my arm and hugged me softly, gently, lovingly. I snuggled my nose into the crook of his cold neck and inhaled his honey and lemon aroma. I could feel his lips on my hair and I smiled contently.

"Oh, shit. Uhm, Edward, I need to go and phone…I'll be right back. I've gotta phone Charlie." I had just remembered the therapy/hypnosis thing. And not forgetting that conditional rubber band...

* * *

**So? Do ya like it? Love it? Hate it? What-e-ver. Just let me know your thoughts...**

**Next chapter will be out in around four to five weeks, I hope. And remember, reviews keep me motivated to write more and more for my fellow readers/writers.**

**I have a few recommendations for yooouuu! (That was me singing…) Please do try and read them, I think they are all astounding!**

**-The_ amazing_ Bella Hale, by JulesSC. If there was ever a good FanFiction, this it the FRIKKIN' best! Do read 'cuz if ya don't, you're gonna regret it for the rest of your life. No kidding. **

**-Pink Fluffy Pencil Case, by CrystalBrooke. An amazing author who writes about an EMO Edward. Ahh, sweet joy.**

**-The Diva Diaries, by KiyaRaven. If I could meet this wonderful person, I would give my left foot. Her story is amazing. Read it, please, please, pleeeaaasseee! You will not be disappointed.**

**-A World Without Sound, by The Romanticidal Edwardian. Oh, my Gosh. This is such a cute story, and I would give my right foot to meet the magnificent author. No joke. Do read the sequel called How to Hear. **

**I will give more recommendations in the next A/N of the fifth chapter. And, oh my God, the FIFTH CHAPTER. Wow, that came about quick…**

**Love!**

**ImprintMeJacob x**


	5. All Is Fair In Love, War and PMS

**Oh, thank you for all those heartfelt reviews; I loved reading and replying to them! 181 and still counting =)**

**Also, my lovelies, this chapter name was conjured up by a breathtaking girl with a magic wand who I can be glad to call my friend... Khush, thank you!**

**Thanks to my incredible Beta, My Vampire Sparkles, and Posh. This chapter is now officially breath-taking, even though I do say so myself! ;)**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just using them in my storyline. However the coolest wolf in town, Jacob Black, is mine. I would love to nick Paul as well, but I can't have it all, can I? Yeah it's too bad, I know...**

**Shout out to my new reviewer friends! And a huge thank you once again to all those wonderful people who reviewed and got me to this large number over 100 :) 200 is the next big target for me!**

**So here is the one you have all been waiting for. Eek! Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Bella POV

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Lauren Mallory threw at Edward, batting her eyelashes. She was such a bitch. (Before you notice why I didn't just slap my face, let me explain. I'd given up the whole 'mental face slap' thing, because it was too much hassle and was a tad bit masochistic- even though it was all in my head). Lauren knew Edward didn't like her but yet she tossed herself at him all the time. Ugh. She even spent her weekends aggravating him. She called it 'Boy Stalking Time'. How disgusting was that? I swear any minute know, I was gonna get my hands on that loser. Her scrawny, ugly neck to be precise. Looking like he was gonna barf any minute at Lauren's crappiness, Edward mumbled slightly and said,

"Henceforth, I never will be Romeo." He quoted from Shakespeare, while his face distorted somewhere between pain and revulsion. He turned around and walked towards where I was standing in the corner, grimacing. I giggled silently. It was extremely funny to watch girls like Tanya, Lauren and Jessica 'Freakazoid Urchin' Stanley hit on Edward. Sickening, but very funny. I decided to play a little game of my own with Lauren so while Edward walked towards me I drew up enough courage to commence the act.

Edward stood by my side and I suddenly interlaced our fingers together, looking lovingly into his eyes. I pulled him towards me, pressing my full lips on his shoulder. Edward gave a slight gasp and suddenly I could feel his lips humming on my head. The vibrations made me shiver slightly, feeling the quivering deep down in my heart, as I snuggled closer in our embrace. This caused my eyes to glaze over and reeked havoc all over my desolate heart.

Through my peripheral vision I could see a clearly-disturbed Lauren Mallory and her posse, mouths agape. She summoned up her witchy powers and shrieked,

"She stole my boyfriend! He was just about to ask me out! I hate you, Bella Swan!"

Did she have a loud voice or was it just my extremely sensitive hearing? I winced and rolled my eyes, still keeping my head upon Edward's shoulder.

I wasn't really paying attention to her because my chocolate coloured eyes had been melted by his intense gaze when he pulled out of the hug. My heart sped up involuntarily. Why did he always... Dazzle me? It was actually really annoying, having to spend so much time remembering what your name was. I looked back into his eyes and they burned with sincerity for a protracted moment. Then they turned playful. It seemed he was ignoring Lauren as well. Ah, I loved him... What? I meant, I loved him _as a best friend_. I'm sure there are loads of best friends who feel the same about their other halves, my talking thoughts whirred. Other halves? Hhh! I need a rubber band on each wrist! As soon as I had got home from the sleepover at Edward's house, I found a suitable elastic band and vowed to wear it until my brain started behaving again.

"So, Bella, what brought this on? Finally realized you love me?" He teased playfully and nudged my ribs. But my eyes widened and my mouth hit the floor. Another bruise, no kidding. Were my thoughts that obvious? Not that I loved him, but I was always gaping at him nowadays. He closed his eyes briefly and sighed,

"What am I gonna do with you, Bella?" He pressed his lips to my forehead and breathed out deeply. His sweet fragrance washed over me refreshingly and I tried to block out all other thoughts and enjoy the scent... My hand found my wrist and I pulled the rubber band hard. The pain from the swift fling attacked me hard but I knew I had to carry on with it or else I was gonna regret ever becoming friends with Edward. Talking of him, he probably thought I was going mad. Even more mad than usual- and that's saying something. Oh my God, now I was having a conversation with my brain. Erh. He looked down to my wrist and his eyebrows shot up inquisitively. I chewed my lip but remained silent, removing my fingers tentatively from the elastic. His eyebrows simultaneously met together as he frowned but he didn't push it. I'd probably be interrogated later anyway. I looked up into those angelic eyes again and was hit by a wave of surprise. He looked so... Yummy. So... Handsome, irritatingly gorgeous and utterly irresistible. Oh sweet Lord.

Lauren Mallory was still 'oh my Gosh'-ing at that little act of ours. I rolled my eyes for the second time today and felt a sharp stabbing pain in my abdomen. I squeaked a little and felt it again. I looked down at my stomach. Hhh! There it was again. Edward put his hands on my hips, a curious gaze on his face. I pulled myself out of his grasp, showing a small apologetic contortion on my lips and ran towards the ladies' toilets in deep pain. I could literally feel tears pouring down my face and I was glad when I saw no one in the toilets. As I sat on the seat, I tried to cease my sobs. My stomach and insides were still aching agonizingly. As I glanced down, I saw red. Not because I was angry, but because there was a new brand of colour leaking from me. My thoughts stop fizzing. This definitely explained the weirdness with Edward today... I had started my period.

* * *

"I seriously think she wants a bit more than friendship, Edward. You're so naïve you'll believe anything someone tells you. But maybe 'cuz she can't get you to be her boyfriend, she wants ya as her best friend. For now anyway," I pressed my lips together in a tight line as I stopped myself from laughing out loud.

Edward shook his head adamantly. I sighed. Tanya Denali had been outside Edward's house, waiting for Edward to get ready for school yesterday. She was dressed in nothing but a towel which said: 'Nothing can come between me and Edward Cullen.' My dear best friend thought that this was friendship. I knew better.

Edward was still shaking his head fiercely and retorted,

"She just wanted to impress people. I bet it was a dare, anyway. Someone probably told her to go outside my house, butt-naked but wound in a towel."

"And how do you explain what the bath towel said, Edward? Come on, stop denying it. If you do like her, who am I to stop you being friends with her?" I looked down at the green grass. I winced at the mere thought of Edward and Tanya as best friends.

Abruptly, Edward started to tickle me, going for my neck, then my waist and my armpits. I snorted out in laughter, covering a fair amount of grass with bunged-up stuff from my nose.

"Edward! Stop it! I'm so gonna tell your mom!" I gasped out, using the 'Esme' trick on Edward. However, very soon after that, I forgot that Edward was at my house, not his own. I doubt Charlie was even awake at this time. Edward's hands never left my body and continued to tickle me senseless. He stopped then and pulled back, smiling ingenuously at me as my laughter gradually decreased. But for a brief moment, as I looked over, I saw his normally content, serene expression darken with something similar to deep distress and…regret? But in a flash all those expressions disappeared and he took hold of my hands and held them above our heads in the grass, his face a fraction of an inch away from mine.

"Now do you believe me? I told you this already Bella, you are my best friend. Tanya will never be anything more than a... Than a moronic, idiotic stalker to me." He kissed my button nose while I reddened and I giggled uncontrollably. Before I could so much as laugh, though, I winced in pain as I felt a sharp twinge in my chest. He was lying directly on top of me and I was finding it hard to breathe properly. Edward noticed the distress in my eyes, so he hastily got up and plopped down onto the grass besides me.

"Sorry," He muttered, pulling chunks out of the green beneath us. I was still chuckling under my breath but when he apologized, I abruptly stopped.

"Edward?" I touched his cheek softly, afraid of what might happen. "Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything wrong... Except tickle the life outta me." I shrugged nonchalantly. "And stop hurting the grass. What did it ever do to you?" My pathetic attempt at amusement failed as Edward clucked his tongue impatiently.

"Never mind, it was my fault anyway... Just forget it." He said. Now if I had been a normal person, I would have left it at that. But I wasn't normal. Far from it.

"Listen, Edward, what the hell is going on? You did nothing wrong. If you had, trust me, you would know about it." I got up and walked the other way. But I slipped on the wet grass behind my house. A strong pair of arms caught me before my face could become too well acquainted with the stone ground, gripping my waist and hauling me towards him at the same time. I refused to look into Edward's eyes and just stared down at the grass.

"Bella, sorry, let's just forget that little tiff, okay? Honestly, nothing is wrong. I'm sorry. It was no one's fault."

"Are you bipolar or something? First, it's your entire fault for something you never did and now it's not, for something that you did do! Honestly, Edward, I just don't see sense in any of this!" I paused for a few seconds and continued on the same breath, "Thanks for catching me." And without warning, for myself or Edward, I burst into tears.

It took nearly twenty minutes to shut myself up. I started to wonder whether I was the one who was bipolar. I felt so angry at myself for blaming Edward and saying those horrible things. I could actually feel a tingling sensation in my fingers and palm when I was crying and that sensation was one close enough to pain. What was wrong with me?

Still asking myself these questions, I said goodbye to a startled Edward and went up to my room. Charlie saw my face and snuggled deeper into his armchair, pretending not to notice me howling. Nothing scared Charlie more than water-works. I trudged up the stairs, locked myself in and lay down on my bed, while those tears I held in since Edward left threatened to fall, muffling my sobs by biting down hard on my pillow. Sleep overtook me and I fell into a deep slumber.

After what seemed like a lifetime, but my Mickey Mouse clock told me a few hours, my eyelids fluttered open and the blackness gave way to the colour. I could just about make out the shaped and contours of my room, but everything was hazy and distorted, like I was suspended and trapped just a few centimetres below the oily surface of water. I wanted to desperately kick up and carve through to the outside but I felt paralysed, way too heavy to move. My mind was fully aware but my body was still wrapped up in those vital hours of sleep I just had. None of me seemed to work any more. But I'd had this happen to me before; it was called sleep paralysis. I should've been less anxious and maybe if Charlie heard me, then he could help me. I bit down on my panic and gulped it back down my throat. If only I could guide my fear to use my vocal cords then maybe I could put it to use. I lay there motionless for what felt like forever until I heard a burbling sound from somewhere deep inside me.

The sound tripped up my paralysis and instantly springed my muscles from their locks. I shot upright- kinda like Frankenstein's monster being shocked into life- and stared at the surroundings. I got up from the bed and stumbled towards the bathroom, locking it behind me. The door clicked shut and I yanked the cord dangling from the small, florescent tube on the wall over the sink. The shadows around me disappeared with the speed of light and I was surrounded by the reassuring back-drop of the bathroom, all magnolias. The face that looks back at me in the mirror is creased, paler than usual and grumpy. What a beautiful sight, my talking thoughts rumbled sarcastically.

I moved away from the mirror and my horrid sight, dropped my sleep-warm jeans and shocked my bum with the heat-deprived toilet seat. Hygiene aside, if we had a furry toilet seat cover, it wouldn't take me half as long in the mornings to get ready. I felt strange and different. I looked down, my eyes drooping as I got comfortable against the now-warm toilet seat but suddenly opened them as wide as saucers. I very nearly jumped off the seat altogether because there was red stuff escaping out of me. I knew what this was straight away. Before she had left, my mom left me a box of those sanitary pad... thingies. She told me that I would be a woman when the time came to use them. I was now, officially, a woman. I put a wad of tissue and a hand towel between my legs and flushed the toilet. After washing my hands, I waddled out the room- yes, waddled; I felt (and must've looked) like a penguin- and rummaged through my travel bag for those sanitary pad... thingies. There they were. A travel pack of five. _Five? _The way that the red stuff was gushing out of me, a _towel_ didn't seem suitable. How was I going to manage with_five_?We were still all living in the same house when my mother left me these, so I guess she forgot she wouldn't be around to buy me any more. Now what? I thought about phoning my mom, but realised that I would need privacy for that and that was something that did not exist in this house. I had to email her before Charlie wondered up to my room to check on me. I quickly switched on the computer and a low hum buzzed around my room. I connected my laptop to the internet and clicked on my Yahoo. I retyped my password at super speed, only to have to type it again due to me incorrectly printing out 'renesmee_carlie '. I hastily opened my Inbox, clicked reply to one of Renee's emails and immediately began typing:

**No time for chit-chat. I've just started my period thingy and I only have a stupid travel-pack of those sanitary pad thingies. How long were they supposed to last me? I mean, there is currently a towel and a clump of tissue between my legs and I seem to be leaking blood all over the place. I know you are probably really busy, but I do hope that you have a solution to this. Please do not even try and tell me to go out amongst the general public and buy them, because that is a total no-go.**

**PS I have no cash anyway and I'm not gonna ask Charlie for any, 'cuz he will want an expenditure breakdown or whatever. And there is no way that I am telling him why I need the money.**

**Bella x**

I knew my email sounded childish, petulant even, but I didn't care. Was I supposed to waltz into the Walmart and casually stroll out again with a bumper pack of the sanitary pad thingies under my arm? Hell to the no. I didn't want to become any more of a social reject than I already was. I hurriedly pressed the send button and waited for a short while to transfer the message to Florida. A new message then popped up on the screen:

**You message has been sent to: edwardcullen (at) yahoo . com**

I stared numbly at the screen while the information drip-dripped into my head. My brain tried to make a valiant attempt at damage control, desperately grappling for reasonable explanations but came up empty, leaving me to deal with the cold, hard reality of what I had just done. My fingers twitched wanted to reach out and bring back the email I had just sent hurtling down the fast lane of the information highway, on its way to one 'Edwardcullen' of Yahooville. I would have screamed but all my vocal cords could manage was a sad, froggy croak. I repeatedly smashed my forehead on the keyboard. So much for wanting to send the email to Florida. It was currently sitting quietly in Edward's Yahoomail Inbox! I needed to get down to Edward's house right now and see if I could stop that message. Not quite stop it, because it was already there, but maybe delete it. Although knowing my bad luck, he had probably already read it and decided to quit our friendship. Maybe I was just too weird for his liking. Maybe it would be the perfect excuse to quit. I _needed_ to get to his house.

Before I could do that, a beeping sound brought me back to the real world. The screen faded and another message took its place.

**You have one new message from: Edward Cullen**

Oh dear, my day wasn't going too well. I hurriedly opened the mail and beat my fingers on the keyboard, awaiting the message. When it finally opened, the message said:

**Hey Bella :)**

**That's wonderful... I'm so glad... Maybe that isn't the correct word to use, but I'm not too sure what is. How about just 'awesome'? :S**

**Just wanted to ask, are you coming to my house? Alice seems to think you are and even though her predictions are nearly always right, I just want to check for myself. Reply ASAP.**

**PS I think Alice has a bumper-pack thing of those... thingies. You can borrow hers, if you like...**

**Edward x**

Please ground, just swallow me up right now, I thought. He was being so... Nice about this. Ugh. I needed to send something back... and quick. I clicked reply for the second time today and typed:

**Hey Edward! Nice to hear from you! :D**

**Uhm, what? I didn't send this. Honest. Cross my heart and hope to fry. I learnt in computer studies the other day that people can hack into your account and send bogus messages to your contacts. Knowing my bad luck, I am probably a victim of this... Hhh! Someone else probably sent that random message to you! And I've just read the email they sent you... They even know my dad's name! Eek. Stalker alert. Ha, ha. I'm sure it's a joke, though, so I'm not really worried...**

**Anyway, I will be coming over, so Alice was right about that... See you in a few.**

**Bella x**

I sent the message and re-read it, looking through my handiwork. Hopefully he believed me. Whether he would or wouldn't, Edward wasn't one to pry on embarrassing things... Mostly. Hopefully he would let it drop when I got to his room. I put on a different hoodie- a muddy-coloured Hollister zip up- on top of my blue lace shirt because the red hoodie I had fallen asleep in was all crumply. Even though I wasn't all high on fashion like Al or Rose, I did have some standards.

As Alice dragged me into her house a few half hours later, and Esme sent me upstairs with a glass of juice and some of her homemade cookies, (she treated us all as babies but I loved that.) I sat down on the bed gingerly and flicked the pages of a pop magazine, abandoned beneath Alice's fluffy, goose-feathered, pink pillow. I was just getting interested in an article on 'Hot, hot hair!' when Alice screamed,

"Ugh! Bella! Edward told me you were on your period, but seriously, is this how you react? By blanking me? Come here. PMS, much!" She screeched and walked over to her newly installed walk-in wardrobe, where she had a fair few pink and purple suitcases. By a fair few, I meant about twenty. No kidding.

"Uhm. Edward said that, did he?" I gritted my teeth and my jaw locked. Just write it on a skyline and be done with it, I wanted to shout. Or I could just lock myself up for forever in the ugliest suitcase Alice had. Not that any of her stuff was ever ugly but... You understand what I mean.

"Bella, he does take Biology, ya know. And really, it's no big deal. Just forget about it, seriously. And do you want pads or tampons?" She lifted up both her hands simultaneously as she said this. In her right hand I could see a huge pack of those sanitary pad... thingies. In her left hand I could see a pack of some sorta candy bar, stick things. Those must be the tampons. I gulped, nearly choking on cookie crumbs. I held up one finger while chewing fast on the cookie. After I had safely swallowed the snack I said,

"I, uh, I'll take the sanitary pad...thingies. I need a plastic bag as well for the journey back home. And I mean an _opaque _bag, Ali." I sounded pretty menacing. If it wasn't for the pain, I might actually like this period thingy.

"Sure thing. I couldn't disagree with you anyway. All is fair in love, war and PMS." She nodded enthusiastically.

I cocked an eyebrow. I totally agreed with her on that.

Alice slipped out the door after letting me know that all the spare plastic bags were downstairs. I took off my hoodie and threw it down on Alice's chair. Then I went and peeked at her jewellery and clothes. What can I say? Periods made you curious. On her dressing table were a few bottles of perfume which looked considerably pricey but must have been worth the cash. I sniffed one of the prettier looking ones, studded all over with pink diamonds, and automatically sneezed. Worth the cash for Alice anyway. I ran my fingers through her jewellery box. All I knew about it was that Esme had given to Alice on her 15th birthday. It was a heart shaped box with velvet on the outside and satin on the inside. It was lined with intricate silver detail, glass beads and Victorian style flower patterns. My eyes pricked with tears as I remembered the day Renee had left. She had given me the exact same jewellery box however I used it for my most prized possessions, whether they were jewellery or not. My box had a picture of Renee, Charlie and I at the beach in Goa when I was five years old, a picture of Edward, Ali, Jazz, Rose, Em and I at school performing in the school play- Les Miserables- a friendship bracelet that Edward had made for me when we were in primary school in year two, a locket from my great grandma- Marie Swan- with a thick lock of her hair and mine and a scattering of red and white rose petals from the day that Edward and I first met. I'll tell you about that another time.

Alice waltzed back into the room with an opaque orange carrier bag, with the sanitary pad... thingies safely hidden out of site. I smiled gratefully and shoved the bag safely out of sight, underneath my hoodie. At around about the same time, Edward walked in.

Talk about sexy.

He had a long, light tan sweater on, with a white collar showing underneath, and blue skinny jeans. Gumph, he looked amazing, those skinny jeans just tight in the right places... Ouch. That rubber band would be the death of me. Well, if Edward didn't kill me first... Ow! I tried to blink back the water swimming in my eyes.

He chuckled and looked me up and down. I looked down at myself in perplexity. Had I forgotten to wear anything? Pants? A shirt? Surely Alice would have let me know...

"That colour blue goes lovely with your skin." He gestured to my blouse and as my blush deepened he laughed again. I giggled for no apparent reason, trying to hide a secret twinge of regret- why did he have to look like a runway model when I couldn't?

"Uh, thanks. So, what's up? Did you get my message? I think someone hacked into my... account..." I trailed off stupidly. Because when I looked up into his eyes, I couldn't find them. Not because they weren't there, but because he had them facing another direction. Looking down... In the stupid opaque plastic bag! How in hell did he know where they were?

"They're Alice's," I blurted out. He looked questioningly into my eyes? I bit down on my lip and blushed. I looked away awkwardly and then, suddenly breaking the thick tension in the room, Alice said,

"Bella, they're yours. Edward, she started her period. Now, on a more serious note, here is a serious talk. Don't be rude to her, don't cuss feminists, and don't make jokes. Basically, do not do anything guys normally do. Try not to breathe. Actually," Alice persisted on. "Please do breathe 'cuz if you die, it'll be like freaking Romeo and Juliet all over again." She rolled her eyes dramatically.

Edward chuckled and my face deepened in colour even more. Alice was right. It _would_ be like Romeo and Juliet. Exactly like that. The love that they both had for each other was unreal yet romantic. While our relationship was purely platonic, I was sure that I would literally die if Edward wasn't around. He was like my... My soul mate. Someone who I had deep feelings for. This was the kind of affection, though, that lovers had, the kind that parents had for their kids. Or the kind that best friends had for each other. I had heard of this theory but I had thought much deeper into this. Edward was someone I was- in technical terms- meant to be with. We would always have each other. I could never ever imagine a point in my life when we hadn't been together.

I lifted my gaze from the floor to look over at Edward. I gasped, because his eyes had suddenly become the most brilliant shade of gold I had ever seen. They weren't exactly liquid gold and not black, but perfectly in the middle. It must have been the fluorescence in Alice's room because a few seconds later, at the blink of Edward's eyes, the original liquid gold that I loved appeared.

"Bella," He spoke softly. "Why didn't you tell me? I do take Biology, you know." His face looked wholly amused, though, and not curious or questioning. I stared down again and spoke,

"Well, I didn't want to broadcast it to every single person around the world, did I?" And Edward's amused face fell, contorting in hurt and confusion. I didn't know if he was acting or not, but if he was, he sure was doing a good job of it.

"But I'm not the whole world, am I? I'm your best friend." His broke slightly at the end and a pained expression replaced the hurt.

Ah, I thought. He probably thought I didn't tell him because I didn't wanna be his best friend. As freaking _if_. Like I said before, I would _die_ without him! How could I _not_ want him as a best friend? Honestly, I wasn't really sure now if it was actually Edward who PMS-ing. Jeez.

"Edward, I'm sorry. I should have told you, but it was embarrassing and unnecessary. Can we quit this topic now? I came over to have some fun, not moan about PMS to your sister."

"Too right, Isabella. I don't wanna hear your crap. I have enough problems of my own... My father always at work, my mom not letting me near the iron after I accidentally burnt her pants, my boyfriend never coming to my house anymore and my brother and my best friend PMS-ing. God, I need a rest! Get out of my room and go sit with Eddie." She rubbed her temples and breathed deeply. Me and Edward glanced at each other and ran off quickly. I didn't forget the sanitary pad... thingies either.

And just before I exited her room, I heard Alice mutter,

"They're so in freaking love."

But I wasn't sure if that was what she had said. After all, my PMS-ing mind had probably come up with that crap.

* * *

After steadying my mind, I tried to control the pain fizzing in my stomach. It felt like a firework had exploded inside me. As my tears subsided, I unlocked the cubicle door and made my way out to the hall again. My eyes searched for Edward the whole way but I didn't have to look too long. I could see him (with one foot planted against the wall again) gazing in front of himself, but looking nowhere in particular. I smiled at the innocence. As if Edward had seen me smiling, his head turned in my direction. His whole expression fell and he walked towards me, looking like a freaking Calvin Klein model. His face went through different expressions: curiousness, grief, anger. He planted his feet in front of me and took my face in his soft, cold hands. I flinched at the temperature but he didn't seem to notice. Edward brought his beautiful face a few inches from mine and said,

"Are you insane? Why did you run away from me like that? Did I go too far? We were only joking, it wasn't real or anything… Right? Honestly, Bella, I wouldn't ever do that to you. Ever."

I lifted my hand and covered his. Our pale hands fit like a jigsaw puzzle over each other. I replied,

"Edward. I started my period and was in pain. I wasn't running away from you. I was trying to run away from the pain. To the toilets, actually. But I would never do that to you. Ever." I echoed his last words. Edward attempted to smile, but it fell into a grimace. I put my hands on his face and leaned onto his forehead, breathing hard.

"Bella. You killed me there. I thought you were afraid of me, seeing that expression on your face..." He trailed off, trying to look away from me. I held his head firmly and said,

"Listen to me. I just told you that I started my period. Isn't that enough?" I smiled coyly at him.

"I guess." He said reluctantly. "Do you need any of those... thingies?" His eyes looked real shifty and I could tell that he wasn't comfortable talking about this topic.

"Naw, it's cool. I already got some." Then I changed the topic because I didn't want to see Edward uncomfortable. And I didn't want to remind about that elastic band either. "Maybe we should get back to class...?" I posed it as a question, leaving it up to Edward.

Before he could answer, someone opened the door of the auditorium. We both leaned away from each others' foreheads and simultaneously looked to the people who had rudely interrupted us...

Interrupted? I internally rolled my eyes, letting my hand drop from Edward's face and flicking the elastic on my wrist. And then I groaned when I saw who had opened the door. Lauren Mallory and her posse were cluttering the hallway, a few metres from where Edward and I were standing. She threw her head back and laughed, causing all the other girls to erupt in titters.

"It seems that we interrupted a hot make-out session, my girls. Look at them breathing hard and all sweaty. Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. What a sweet couple. Hands up if they should be Prom King and Queen!" No one raised their hands. A few giggles started up again. I had been blushing the whole way through her stupid speech and now my face must have been beetroot. When I peeked at Edward through my eyelashes, his face was stony. Crap. I hated Lauren Mallory. It hadn't even looked like a freaking make-out session... Right?

With our heads closer than germs on a freaking toilet seat, breathing hard and all sweaty, like Lauren had oh-so-kindly pointed out, I wasn't too sure about that first thought that I had just had. Maybe it did look like that from the outside. Who knew? Well, certainly, neither Edward nor I.

* * *

**Gah! Did ya like it? Love it? Hate it? What-e-ver. Just review, please =D**

**Reviews are like chocolate. You need them all the time to continue living. =)**

**Seriously, though, what did you guys think?**

**And I'm sooo sorry it took so long to upload this chapter. In my defence, my computer crashed and it took forever to recover what I had written beforehand. I should have left a note, so I'm sorry. I have learnt something, though. I promise to save future chapters in my Inbox or on a USB or something. Sorry once again.**

**And another excuse. (Here we go again, I know.) The website wasn't allowing me to put up the chapter for a few days and so I had to be patient. But it's not really my speciality...**

**I have a lot of major exams this April, May and June. Hopefully, I can squeeze in a few chapters. The next one should be up around mid/late April-ish.**

**As I promised, here are the recommendations!**

**-Carlie's Eyes by prettykittyartist. I love this FanFiction and I also recommend the sequel called Daddy's Little Angel. The amazing outtakes are in a separate story called CARLIE'S EYES OUTTAKES.**

**-High Anxiety by EdwardsBloodType. This is so cute; it made me cry on several occasions. Please read if you have a sensitive nature.**

**-The Blessing and The Curse by The Black Arrow. Likewise, this made me cry. In every freaking chapter.**

**-The Tales of a Charming TruckNapper by Mk Marie. This is one of the funniest FanFictions I have read. Ever! It made me laugh so much, I was pretty much on the floor after every chapter.**

**As always, I will leave more recs in the next chapter until I finish telling the world about all the wonderful FanFictions that I have read so far on this website.**

**Please excuse me once again from updating so late! I promise to try and not do it again…**

**PS: The email address used above is entirely fake so please do not try and contact Edward Cullen on edwardcullen (at) yahoo . com. Unfortunately, he is fictional...**

**Love!**

**ImprintMeJacob x**


	6. No Strings Attached

**Finally! The sixth chapter is up! Sorry for the long and shitty wait, I'm still mega busy.**

**There are 2 POV's in this chapter! You'll get a feel of what Edward thinks about his best friend too :P**

**WARNING: As Edward and Bella are getting older, their language will become more 'colourful'. Please be aware that they will start using 'The F- Word' and the likes, so if you don't like it, please do not read. Because of this, I have also changed the rating. It's now Rated M (16+)**

**Thank you to all of you who bombarded my Inbox with birthday wishes. I love you guys.**

**Hugs to my wonderful Beta, My Vampire Sparkles, and all my good friends.**

**(The title fits in with Edward saying he would always choose Bella over the piano. Like, ya know, a 'no-strings-attached' relationship...? Let me know if you think it's appropriate.)**

**Disclaimer: As always, Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer and I've just used my imagination to change things here and there. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Bella POV**

"Edward, why can't I get this stupid thing right?" I moaned. My fingers smashed down on the keys of the grand piano with more force than was necessary, sounding like a groaning ghoul. I was trying to play a piece of music that Edward had composed but I was failing so badly it hurt. My first attempt had been absolutely unspeakable. I hadn't even played _one single note__ correctly. _My second attempt had been worse – if that was possible. At this moment, I couldn't even count how many times I'd tried because I'd lost my calculation after the fifteenth. Still, Edward didn't give up on me. He had patiently guided my fingers over the ivory keys, encouraging me when I was going in the right direction; and lightly scolding me when I was not.

"Listen, Bella, you can do it. You can. Just try once more, I'm sure you will get it right this time," Edward said firmly. His signature lopsided smile appeared on his face and I forgot how to breathe. He frowned slightly at the sudden 'whoosh' of breath from my mouth. I recovered myself and sighed at him – his ease, his casualness - and turned my full attention to the piano. I focused fully on the keys, letting myself be one with it, letting myself feel it in my fingertips, letting myself absorb into the wholeness of it, letting myself go…

"Bellaaaaaa!" I jumped suddenly, and then for the second time in the span of a few minutes my hands slammed down on the piano making the keys cry out loudly, as if they were feeling the pain too. I ground my teeth and after quickly counting to ten, I composed myself and turned around on the chair.

"Yes, Emmett? Anything I can do for you?"

"Yeah, uh, could ya get me some food? I'm hungry."

"Em-Bear!" I screamed, using his baby name. "You just ate that peanut butter jelly sandwich of mine a few minutes ago! And you had Edward's too! God, you just _had_ to interrupt me. I was gonna get it right! Guh. Go 'way." I slouched back into my comfy position and put my head in my hands, resting my elbows on the wood.

"Bella, lo- Um, uh, honey, you carry on and I'll get this lump out of here. Go ahead. Make it perfect for me." With a small wink that got my heart stuttering like mad, Edward swiftly smacked the back of Emmett's head and gave him a stern look. I swear I saw Emmett gulp, but it could have been my imagination. Emmett bowed his head and bounded sullenly out of the room. His brother followed him to make sure he stayed out, shaking his head.

I giggled like a school girl – wait, I am a school girl – and then returned my focus to my playing. It was so nice to come home from school on Tuesday's and Friday's to have piano lessons with Edward. Not only was it free, but I got to spend the rest of the evening with Edward. We would get home from school, make a sandwich or something, and start playing. It was very relaxing for me, especially when I heard Edward play at the end. That was my motivation to keep going for each lesson; no matter how tired I was, it was totally worth it if I heard Edward play. His fingers would carelessly glide over the ivory coloured keys, looking so lost in thought, and unconsciously looking like a million dollars. His sexiness, that cute smirk of his and the way he played the piano could honestly get him money. I slapped my face as if to stop those kinda thoughts about my best friend from entering my psycho brain remembering, at the same time, the first time I ever heard Edward play the piano.

* * *

"I'm gonna be a bit late to dinner, mom. I have, urm, basketball practise."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. Edward was in the basketball team? With all those girl-obsessed jocks? Psh, I found that very hard to believe. Although Edward was such a brilliant freakin' athlete, he would definitely avoid all that glory if his team consisted of boys who were obsessed with their Barbie girlfriends. Another rumour I had heard was that they had to initiate their girlfriends by getting them to strip butt-naked and run around the common grounds with a whole load of people looking. Not that I believed them, and I didn't know for sure. Edward and I hated the common grounds, but the main point is that to be a basketball jock you needed a girlfriend; and Edward didn't even have a girlfriend. He didn't even have many girl friends (spot the difference), other than me and Rose. So how had he gotten onto the team?

"Honey, that's fine. You go along and have a bit of fun. Don't forget your trainers!" Esme sang. "But since when have you been part of the basketball team then? You never told me, darling!"

"Oh, uh, that's because, uh, I only just, um, joined. Yeah, I just joined yesterday." Edward nodded slowly.

My eyes narrowed further. Yesterday?

"But there _was_ no school yesterday! It's Monday today, silly!" I attempted to sound nonchalant, but all I heard from my mouth was accusation.

"Oh, yeah! Silly me, I meant to say that I joined on, um, Friday. Yes, Friday. I forgot to mention it, sorry Esme." He addressed his mom hesitantly.

"It's fine, dear. You go on. Shall I drop you off at school?"

"No, no, no, I'll, uhm, I'm going to take the bus. Ya know, get some last minute exercise in between practise. Anyway, I'd better be off. Later mom," He waved, kissed his mom's forehead and slipped off his stool silently, making his way into the hallway. I mimicked his footsteps and followed him to the stairs where he was putting on his shoes.

"So. You're a jock, now?"

"Bella, I'm not a jock, just part of the team. It's no big thing, you can Google it. Anyway, you wanted me to take part more in school. Consider this one of the new things I am choosing to do." He shrugged and my eyes narrowed till they were literally slits. 'No big thing', my ass.

"Who's your girlfriend, then? Jocks need girlfriends, don't they?" The way that I sounded was something along the lines of jealous.

"Oh, um. It's, uh, it's… Lauren Mallory."

My mouth fell, but I rapidly recovered and shrugged.

"Oh, right. That's cool. Anyway. I need to go, Charlie probably wants something to eat, ya know," I babbled. I stood there just waiting for a goodbye kiss on the forehead, but no such thing came my way. My heart thumped unevenly. Every time I stepped out of Edward's house there was always a kiss on the forehead or cheek, with a side order of a tug on my ponytail or stroke of my cheek. Today though, absolutely nothing. _I guess he was just being a good boyfriend_, my talking thoughts said sadly. A good boyfriend who didn't kiss his best friend.

I opened my mouth but no sound came out. Clearing my throat, I turned on my foot and walked towards the door, a few feet away. Yet before I got to the last foot, I tripped over the umbrella holder. Before I felt the impact of a cushy carpet, my waist was occupied by a pair of hands from behind me.

"Thanks," I muttered, almost silently. Edward said nothing and let go of my waist. As soon as I was free, I bustled out of the door heaving my bag over my shoulder and fighting the tears stinging my eyes.

**Edward POV**

I needed to get to the last dress rehearsal before it was too late to practise and I needed to come up with an excuse as soon as humanly possible. I remembered the posters on the notice board when it suddenly hit me. There was one poster which had said 'Can you play the Baskets?' And that was it! I would need to pretend to be a jock. I know it wasn't practical but it had to be done. Even Esme could not know about this. It was too important to me to blow now, so all I could do was hope and pray that my plan would work. Taking a deep breath, I started.

"I'm gonna be a bit late to dinner, mom. I have, urm, basketball practise."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Bella's eyes narrow slightly. Oh, crap. What if they didn't believe me? Dammit. I knew I shouldn't have gone along with this, but it was too late to back out. I'd just have to lie along.

"Honey, that's fine." My mom said. "You go along and have a bit of fun. Don't forget your trainers! But since when have you been part of the basketball team, then? You never told me, darling!"

"Oh, uh, that's because, uh, I only just, um, joined. Yeah, I just joined yesterday." I nodded, trying to make sense of what I had just blurted out.

And then I realised. Yesterday? Oh, crap. I was REALLY bad at this lying palaver. Yesterday was Sunday!

"But there _was_ no school yesterday! It's Monday today, silly!" Bella sounded quite suspicious, and I wondered whether she had sussed me out already. Bella had always been the clever one.

"Oh, yeah! Silly me, I meant to say that I joined on, um, Friday. Yes, Friday. I forgot to mention it, sorry Esme." I was quite cautious with the way I spoke, because I didn't want Bella to catch me out again.

"It's fine, dear. You go on. Shall I drop you off at school?" Esme looked up to meet my eyes.

"No, no, no, I'll, uhm, I'm going to take the bus. Ya know, get some last minute exercise in between the practise and now. Anyway, I better be off. Later mom." Waving, I got off my chair and walked down to the hallway. I heard footsteps behind me and realised Bella had also followed. Then she suddenly spoke.

"So. You're a jock, now?" Bella didn't look very impressed. I nearly flinched at the 'accusation' in her eyes, but I kept my cool. There was no way I was gonna blow this now. No chance. It was way too important to me. And, in time, she would realise how important it was to her too.

"Bella, I'm not a jock just part of the team. It's no big thing. You wanted me to take part more in school. Consider this one of the new things I am choosing to do." I tried to shrug it off, but it seemed like Bella wasn't going to let go.

"Who's your girlfriend, then? Jocks need girlfriends don't they?" Bella had a funny notch in her voice. A notch that appeared when she was jealous, I realised. I'd heard that sound before. In fact, I'd heard that sound a lot recently.

I needed a name, and fast. The first person I thought of was Bella. But how stupid! She wasn't my girlfriend, and never would be. I searched my brain for another name and came up with the worst one.

"Oh, um. It's, uh, it's… Lauren Mallory."

I saw Bella's mouth fall open. I recoiled with shock. Bella eyes flashed with sorrow, upset and slight anger. A second later, all the emotions disappeared and Bella started to speak,

"Oh, right. That's cool. Anyway. I need to go, Charlie probably wants something to eat, ya know."

She stood, waiting for something. What seemed like a minute passed, until I realised what she had been waiting for. Every time Bella left my house, I would kiss the apple of her cheek, or her pale forehead. Sometimes I would even tug her mahogany hair; but my legs were frozen and I couldn't move. Bella opened her mouth but quickly closed it again. She cleared her throat and before I could say anything she turned around. I could see that she was going to trip because her feet were dangerously close to the umbrella holder. As her foot caught I swept her falling body into my arms, holding her close to me. I breathed in the scent of her strawberry-smelling hair and closed my eyes briefly. Bella muttered,

"Thanks,"

I let go of her waist, still saying nothing. I licked my lips while Bella opened the door and stalked out. Just before the door closed I finally flinched.

Because I had clearly heard the sob that had come from Bella's mouth.

Two days later

**Bella POV**

Something was definitely up.

I hadn't seen or heard from Edward since that awkward conversation we'd had in his house a few days ago. I hated not speaking to him, but he was always so busy with 'basketball practise'. Every day would be the same - I tried to talk to Edward, he looked all shifty and made some stupid excuse where he suddenly had to go. Then he'd rush off, leaving me stuck with some creepazoid by my side. In fact, unless I made a fool of myself by tripping over my huge feet, he wouldn't even acknowledge me. Even Alice wouldn't tell me what was up with Edward. I decided to try to figure it out by myself, once and for all.

Slamming my locker shut, I searched around for one of those retarded jocks. I immediately saw a pair of hench arms, and knew straight away that the guy was a musclebrain. I followed his arms and found them wrapped around a girl's neck. And her neck wasn't the only thing he had wrapped something around: Blaine Jackson's, captain of the basketball team, tongue seemed to be strangling Holly Holidays' tonsils halfway down her throat. I squirmed in discomfort and looked away, hoping either of them would come up for air.

Holly broke their strangle-kiss first. Her face was all red and flustered. Looking up at Blaine from under her lashes she puckered her lips, attempting to look sexy; but really she had totally captured the look of a toad swallowing a whole lemon. Before they could have another session of 'Let's See How Far Our Tongues Go Down Each Others' Throats', I walked up to Blaine and coughed. His eyes moved from Holly's and fixed on my chest. I coughed slightly louder and gave him a pointed look. He grinned and said,

"Hey, pretty lady. What's cookin', hot stuff? Wanna join us?" He jerked his head towards Holly, who was putting on some cherry chapstick. It looked like she needed it, with the way Blaine gave her a tonsillectomy with his tongue.

I winced at his use of words. This was going to be a painful conversation, and not just because of the foul language I knew he was bound to use- the guy was a musclehead. I was here to ask about Edward.

"Blaine, how's, um, how's Edward doing?" I tried to sound as if I was asking an innocent question, but again, I just sounded nosy and interfering.

"Edward? What about 'im?"

"Listen, meathead, don't get all pissy with me. I just wanna know how he's doing at basketball. He must be going somewhere... I mean, it's been a few days alrea-"

"No, _you_ listen, Bella. I have no fuckin' clue what the heck you're on about. Edward hasn't joined the basketball team! In fact, no one has, as of yet. We're still looking for another player, since Andrew broke his foot." Blaine honestly looked like he was telling the truth. I sighed and thanked Blaine for his help.

Turning round, I frowned to myself. Edward was lying, and I now had proof. What should I do? Confront him? Pressure him into telling me the truth? I was so confused. Shaking my head ever so slightly, I walked towards the gym where he said he would be. But he wasn't there either. I was starting to get quite jealous of this new thing that Edward clearly adored. Where was he?

At that moment, Alice bounded like a deer towards me. She planted her feet and put her head close to mine.

"Heyy, Bella. Whatcha doing? Looking for Edward?" Her eyebrows danced mischievously.

"Tell me where he is, Al. Or so help me, I'll... I'll trash your walk-in wardrobe!"

Alice gasped vividly.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh, yes I would! Does this face look like it's joking?" I ground my teeth and looked straight into her eyes. Alice bit down on her bottom lip and said,

"Fine, you do that then. This is much more important. Ugh, Bella, I can't tell you! I wish I could, but I just can't."

"I thought we were friends. Why won't you tell me? Oh!" I gasped suddenly, as I realised what was going on. "He's in trouble, isn't he? Who with, the school? The _police_? He's gonna be expelled, isn't he? Oh, God, no, please no!" Alice chuckled and rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Gosh, what a gripping imagination you have babe. No, he's not in trouble. It's a surprise, okay! Now get over it and just wait." I sighed in frustration. Alice was of no help. No help at all.

As the next few weeks passed I cornered Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, hoping any of them would tell me what the big surprise was. Alice had got to them first however, so that was a no-go too. Finally, when I had given up all hope Edward sheepishly asked Emmett to ask Rosalie to ask Jasper to ask Alice to ask me to meet him outside the shed behind school at 1:30 PM during lunch. I was quite wary- should I go after all that had happened? Of course I should, my mind scolded silently. Don't be stupid, Bella. Like Ali said, it's a surprise for _you._Stop being a wuss and get over there already.

At 1:35 PM, I stood waiting for Edward, eyes to the ground and nails tearing chunks out of my hands. I couldn't understand why I was so nervous! It made no apparent sense. Then as I thought some more I realised that _nothing_ made sense in my life anymore. My thoughts were fried, my brain was sizzled and my heart? Huh, I had no idea what was wrong with it, but it was something horribly retarded I knew that for sure. I checked my watch, absent-mindedly fingering the rubber band that was still around my wrist. It was now 1:42 PM exactly. Pondering over where he was, I heard some bristling. I looked up and saw Edward walking towards me with a huge grin on his face. I frowned slightly and called out,

"So what's up? Are you finally going to tell me what's going on? What's the big secret everyone but me knows?" Edward shook his head.

"I'm not going to tell you." He began, and continuing on one breath before I could interrupt him, Edward said "I'm going to be _showing_ you."

"Okay...?" Now I was very wary. What could he possibly show me that was a big secret? I tried to come up with some ideas but my mind went blank. Edward pulled a black blindfold out of his jean pocket and waved it about.

"Close your eyes, Bella. And when you walk please don't drag your feet. We're gonna be going over some rocky ground here and I don't want you to trip, yes?"

"Hmm, sure." I closed my eyes obediently and felt the cloth wrap over my eyes. Edward's cool hands took hold of my shoulders and guided me along. Every half minute, Edward would twist my body slightly, indicating I go left, or move to the right. My mind raced with anticipation. Finally, we stopped dead and I realised that although I hadn't knocked my head on a door, we were inside somewhere; there was less of a breeze here.

"Edward?" I called out tentatively, sniffing as well. I could smell something musky. It reminded me of a school trip when we had gone on a nature trail in the forest.

"I'm here. Now, wait. I'm going to take off your blindfold, but I want you to keep your eyes shut. Please." As the cloth fell off my eyes, my eyes flickered underneath their eyelids but stay shut, as Edward had asked.

"Three, two... one. Open your eyes, Bella." I did as I was told and instantly knew where I was. We were in the Music Hall. I could see Edward on the stage, sitting in front of a piano. I gasped.

And then Edward started to play. It was a breathtaking piece of music. I hadn't heard it before, but that wasn't really a newsflash. I wasn't a huge fan of classical music, although I did love the piano and acoustic guitar. As his hands moved gracefully over the keys, his brow furrowed in concentration; I stared in astonishment. As his finger hovered over the last note I sighed with contentment. I brushed the corners of my eyes, not realising the beautiful music had brought tears to my eyes. Edward hopped off the stool and sauntered charmingly towards me. (Ow. Excuse my French, but that rubber band hurt like a damn _mother_.)

"Wow, Edward. Just… Wow. Where did you learn that?"

Edward shrugged in apparent embarrassment. His cheeks tinged a shell pink colour.

"I, urm, I composed it. I was inspired by… Er… You know, for the talent show."

I nodded, totally baffled for the moment. This explained a lot of the shit Edward had put me through over the last few weeks. I swallowed meekly and said,

"Yes, but what the heck inspired you? It must be something very special and close to your heart, I mean, I could never in a million years learn to play something like that."

Edward's cheeks turned tomato red. His eyes looked real shifty. I wondered what he was up to.

"You did. And you are."

"Huh?"

"You did. You inspired it. I just sat down at this piano during the auditions and played this. Off the top of my head. You do like it right, oh special girl close to my heart?" He was taking the mick, but something about those words sounded real. Ow.

"Like it?" My eyes narrowed in confusion. "_Like_ it? I freaking love it! But… But how could I have inspired something like that? And off the top of your head? Impossible, even for you Cullen! That was… That was just… Wow. I'm at a loss for words."

"For once." He smiled crookedly and my heart went into overdrive. I was _so_ damn lucky he couldn't hear my heart speeding like a frikking train, or Edward would tease me to no end. I swallowed nervously and gave a slight giggle. I seriously couldn't think right now. My brain had turned to mush. Edward thought I was close to his heart and special?

"And, uh, Bella? Do you know what it's called?"

"Nope. I'm sure you're gonna tell me though."

"Bella's Lullaby. Not very original, I know, but it suits you." A tiny smile played on his lips. I could tell he had wanted to make it look innocent, but I noticed the hesitant look too.

I gasped. No way. Stuttering slightly I mumbled,

"Nice. You – you have t – to teach m – me. Tha – That's…" I trailed off awkwardly.

"Hm, well, I don't want anyone to learn it and then start playing their own versions." Edward hated remixes. "But, alright, seeing as you did inspire it. Come over to my house Friday. We can work on it instead of math." He smirked and my eyes glazed over.

"Yeah," I burbled in one breath "Yeah, that'd be great because I really want to learn it. Since I did actually inspire it; but anyway, yeah I wanna learn how to play it. Where did you learn how to play the piano anyway? I mean, well, I think I would know if you played it before. I mean I spend more time at your house than mine anyway, it's practically my second home, so like, yeah…"

Edward chuckled. His laugh was _so_ cute… _Ouch_, God dammit!

"Esme. It's a passion of hers. I met one of her old teachers when Esme dragged me to the lady's house. While they were sipping coffee, I played a few notes on her grand piano. She must've heard because she was all come over like 'Oh, Edward,'" He put on a posh, English accent. "'You've got naturally talented fingers! Hah, Esme, your son is an absolute naaaturrralll." He drew out the word like a piece of gum. "'Go on dear. Play a few more notes.' I was real cautious at this point, Bella, but after a few more notes, she launched into another 'Your-son-is-a-naattuuraalll' episode. And that was that. I just can't believe she figured I was 'virtuosic', in her words, by my playing of a few notes. I mean anyone can do that. But it felt awesome."

"Great," I squeaked. The piece was still playing in my head.

Edward looked at me and raised a faultless eyebrow.

"Want me to play it again?" He looked hopeful.

I nodded too quickly and smiled, blushing faintly at my own eagerness.

"On one condition though." I rolled my eyes at his absurdness. A condition? Psh. "You have to sit beside me while I play." He winked and his eyes turned a searing shade of topaz. He looked hot. My throat constricted a little. I swallowed again. (Mother-frikking CRAP, how I hated rubber bands!)

"How can I possible resist your charm and allure, Mr. Cullen?"

"You can't," Edward winked again. Ouch. _That_ was gonna leave a bruise. "Allow me to assist you, Miss Swan." He held out his hand, and I gladly accepted. We both smiled. I knew his hand would be stone cold as always, but the difference in temperature of our hands- because mine seemed like they were always running a temperature- glazed together, and it seemed we were inseparable.

As per freaking usual.

* * *

"You haven't played a single note while I was kicking my brother's ass, have you?" I gasped and spun around on the velvet stool, nearly falling over. Edward stood leaning against the doorjamb, with his muscular arms folded. "Talk about perfecting it for me." He pretended to look hurt.

I beamed.

"I was just thinking of how you got started with the piano and all. It's become a passion of mine too, ya know." I nodded and Edward laughed.

"Well, it's a passion of mine as well, but I would still choose you over the piano. You know what they say; beauty over strings. Any day." My blush then decided to join the conversation. "And, you're absolutely right saying I spend all my time with you now! Poor Charlie… He must think that we're going… Um… Anyway, let's start from the beginning." He walked towards me with an awkward look enveloping his face.

I blushed deeper. I knew exactly what he was going to say. That it must've looked like we were dating. In fact, just the other month I had gotten the sex talk with Charlie. It had to have been one of the most embarrassing things that had even happened to me, and that's saying something. I wasn't going out with Edward and I certainly didn't have a mysterious boyfriend unknown to my father. I had painfully explained to him that although it sounded weird from a girl of the tender age of 16 to say this, I was still a virgin and didn't have any, um, _plans_ to change that status anytime in the near future. I also pointed out to Charlie that I needed any sort of male to, um, to _be_ with for the 'forbidden act' to take place. And I didn't know, let alone talk, to any boys who didn't have girlfriends already, except for Edward. (That excluded Mike Newton. He came under the species of 'alien-monster-thing', not boy. _Never_ boy)

"Okey-dokey, artichokey." My eyes widened at my childish behaviour and I turned my head slightly towards Edward sitting next to me on the stool. To my utter surprise his eyes were doing a bit of peaking themselves. We both quickly looked away and I blushed the colour of beetroot. Swallowing, I turned the page of the booklet until I found what I was looking for. I pointed to it and pleaded silently to the boy next to me. His face looked confused.

"For me?" I asked him.

He sighed and nudged my shoulder. I smacked the back of his head, smiling with satisfaction when I heard my hand connect with his head. I giggled and tried to remove my hand from his hair. _Tried_ being the operative word. What was happening? I willed my hand to stop stroking his hair, but my brain seemed to be disconnected from body. My hand was doing its own thing, now massaging Edward's scalp. Edward's eyes closed in approval. He hummed soothingly and leaned back into a more comfortable position. I mirrored his actions. He grabbed my other hand and he kissed the inside of my wrist affectionately… Oh, Mother of Pearl. That rubber band was _so_ going to leave a huge fucking bruise around my wrist. When my hand untangled from his hair and he heard the twang of the rubber, he snapped out of it (whatever 'it' was) and cleared his throat. His fingers were suddenly poised, ready to play.

And I closed my eyes once again to listen to my lullaby.

* * *

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Whatever. Just leave one of your signature reviews down there and make me smile. Or frown. Whichever, really.**

**Next chapter will be up... Well, I don't know when it'll be up. I cannot promise you anything but I do hope to make a start on number 7 soon! Yeah, I love you all so much so that I've decided to abandon my future as a young, inexperienced yet hopeful dentist and write some more FanFiction about a girl and her ultimately-beyond-hot best friend.**

**Recommendations:**

**- Torn by Dooba. I read this one really recently and I LOVE IT! Seriously, it has dark themes but it's beautifully written. Read it!**

**- Don't Give Up Hope by XJasperSaysRelaxX. The sequel is Beginning A New Beginning.**

**- To Win You Have To Lose by tueststercus27. It's so nice!**

**- Sincerely, Sergeant Masen by 2carm2carm2. This made me cry a bit too.**

**As always, I'll leave more recs in the A/N of the next chapter.**

**Love!**

**ImprintMeJacob :) x**


	7. KFC Surprise

***rushes in***

**Hiya, guys! Long time no write, huh? I've finally got to Chapter 7, so kudos to me, haha. And also, lots and lots of love to my Beta, Caitlin, who it absolutely amazing. I love you.**

**Just a little note to say that this story is Rated M. If you aren't comfortable with swearing, there's quite a bit in this chapter, especially at the end. Don't like, don't read.**

**Oh yeah, and there's no flashback in this chapter. The long lines just indicate some time passing.**

**Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I just mess around with the characters.**

**And lastly, I hope you like it, love it, hate it, whatever. Just… Enjoy it. :D**

* * *

"Bella, please. Don't be silly now. It won't be for very long, I promise you."

I huffed loudly. Charlie was going on holiday with a good friend of his, Billy Black, and he was planning to ship me off to Arizona to live with my mom. Not that I had a problem with that – I hadn't seen my mom for over 7 years, and I was 16 now. But the downside was that I was going to be gone for 5 weeks. 5 weeks! I would be missing school for 3 weeks, and most of all I wouldn't see Edward for all that time. I mean, as if he was going to come with me! Even if I wanted it, Charlie would never let him set foot on the same plane as me.

"Listen dad, I really can't go! I… I have school! And finals! And… And loads of work! Ugh, dad, great timing ya know. Jeez," I sighed deeply and stamped my foot. Then I looked at his face and saw it fall. I could tell he had been very excited for me to go and see my mom for a while. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, fine, whatever makes you happy." Charlie's face lit up and he hugged me.

"Thank you, baby. Go and pack, the flight leaves at two."

I coughed, choking on my spit.

"TWO? TWO O' CLOCK? TODAY?"

"Well yes, when else were you thinking?"

"But dad, how did you know I would agree to go?" I was completely baffled.

"Oh, sweetie, you're so predictable, like your mom. And you've been talking about her in your sleep you know." He winked and the corners of his brown eyes crinkled. I shook my head in slight disbelief and stomped upstairs, whipping out my phone at the same time. I dialled Edward's number and let it ring.

"Hello there, sweetcheeks," I smiled at his musical, chocolaty voice and his choice of words.

"Edward, listen up. I'm going to Arizona," I had to keep the introductions short – I only had several hours till the flight left.

"What the _hell_? Why are you going to Arizona, and why so suddenly?" His voice sounded panicked all of a sudden.

"I gotta go there, my dad's off on holiday and he's sending me to Arizona."

"For how long? You won't miss much school, will you?"

"Urm, don't panic 'kay? I'll be gone for… For 5 wee-"

"5 WEEKS?" I winced at his raised voice and help the phone about a foot away from my ear. I could hear Edward ranting on and on about me missing 'important days before finals'.

"Edward? _Edward? _Will you just stop and listen to me? It wasn't my choice alright? Charlie booked the ticket; and I'm more bothered that I'm not gonna see you for this time, never mind my frikkin' finals!"

He sighed. "Bella, come on, really?"

"Yes, really. Anyway, I have to go and pack now. I'll speak to you real soon though, okay?"

"Alright then. Talk to you later, Bella. Safe journey."

"Bye," I whispered, but Edward had already put the phone down. I knew he was angry but he wouldn't question it because I had shoved Charlie's name into the conversation.

While packing, my eyes watered at the prospect of meeting my mom after so many years and not seeing my friends for the break too. I would now be staying with Renee for 5 weeks. That had to be good.

* * *

"Hey, mom, it's awesome to see you too. I missed you so much," The tears pouring down my cheeks burned, due to the temperature around here being 109 degrees. I hugged my mom hard, wrapping my arms around her neck and hoping to never let go. Renee looked exactly the same as I remembered her. I looked very much like her, other than the fact that her hair was shorter than mine, and her eyes were blue. Another major difference was that my mom was the kind of care-free, happy-go-lucky person that I didn't want to be. She let everything come to her, rather than fulfilling her own dreams.

"Bella, honey, you've grown so much! Oh wow. Honey, I missed you. I'm sorry I haven't been around."

"That's okay mom. Dad and I are surviving fine. We miss your food though. Really, we do."

I saw Phil and waved to him. After meeting my Grandma, I flipped my phone out and texted Edward.

**Hey! Landed safe and sound – I'm actually alive! Heh, talk to you tonight. Bella x**

As soon as I hit 'send', I instantly got a reply saying,

**Oh, thank goodness! I was beginning to think you might have drowned in your luggage or something :) Speak soon. Edward x**

I chuckled silently. Someone knocked on the door, and my mom popped her head around.

"Bella, we're having a mini-party. Like a celebration that you're finally here. I've invited a few guests, okay?"

"Mmm, sure mom. I can't wait to eat, I'm starving! But I'm gonna take a little nap right now, I'm tired."

Renee nodded her head and closed the door tightly. I lay down on my bed, the quilt scratching my bare arms, and looked up at the ceiling, where the imprints of the glow-in-the-dark stars from my previous stay (like a gazillion years ago) lit up brightly. Smiling to myself, I fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

"Bella? The guests are here! You still hungry?" I nodded groggily to my mum's blurry image and put up a finger, indicating I would be down in one minute.

I walked down and saw about 50 people huddled into the double room. I gasped, and mentally cursed my mother. A few guests? _A few?_ More like a few hundred!

Catching myself before I fell on the last step, I straightened my top and walked into the room. I was abruptly surrounded by all 50 people, saying "Bella, look how you've grown" or "Look at her beautiful cheekbones" or "Her lips are _gorgeously_ full". They reminded me a lot of Edward. I pushed that thought away and smiled awkwardly, embarrassingly accepting the compliments. I finally set eyes on my mother and sent her an evil look. She looked apologetic and mimed 'I couldn't stop them coming here'. I rolled my eyes and when everyone had finished giving me the once-over, I walked hastily to the dinner table outside in the garden.

My mother was brilliant. I grinned like a huge idiot and my mouth watered looking at the dishes – spaghetti, mini samosas, fried rice. My mother was remarkable – had I already said that?

"Mom, could we start eating? I'm starving!" She was sitting next to a man with silvery-blonde shoulder-length hair wearing a cowboy hat and cut-off denims that were way too short and way too tight for a man hurtling at full speed towards middle age. His legs were tanned very dark and had very skinny calves. He was wearing Roman sandals with thin leather straps that tie around his brown ankles. His denim hot pants were stained with flecks of paint and frayed at the hems. He was wearing a t-shirt that says 'Vote For Pedrenko'. I couldn't help my talking thoughts as they debated what he looked like. I threw my two pence in and called him Mr Kentucky Fried Chicken – his legs were like chicken drumsticks.

"Yes, babe, we're eating al fresco today. See how we've lit the place up?"

"Urm, yeah." My mother pushed me towards to dinner table outside. She shouted out,

"Stefan! Grab the camera please." He saluted her and winked, sending me a cheesy smile too.

Ah, I saw. Stefan happens to be Mr KFC. I glared at him, because I knew he had the hots for my mom. Yeah, whatever, Chicken Dude, keep away. Everyone took their places. Well, I say everyone. Only around six people were actually eating. The rest were still cooped up in the living room like hens. I was sitting in between an old friend called Samantha and her mom Gloria. My mother was sitting opposite me with Mr KFC and some other lady who I didn't know. Stefan said a prayer of thanks for the food, the beautiful day and each other. No one closed their eyes but they all stared up at the sky anyway. I did the same.

And then, we were off – eating, talking, laughing and having a pretty awesome time. I dug into all the food at once because it all looked delicious. Spaghetti happens to be one of my favourite foods so I took a large (and I mean _large_) helping and started eating. I was absolutely ravenous; I could've eaten a mountain lion.

"I forgot the garlic bread!" Renee suddenly cried out, and she jumped to her feet.

Mr KFC was quite quick to follow. "You enjoy the meal, I'll fetch it," he announced. I think he was pretty determined to save the day. But he didn't dash of straightway like Superman did. First, he cupped my mom's chin in his hand. Then he mashed his lips against hers. Lastly, he gave her bottom an exuberant slap, grabbed a hold of the cellulite on her thigh and hoisted her leg between his crotch, wiggling it around there, before disappearing indoors.

Everyone was suddenly _very_ still and silent – everyone except for me, that is. I just happened to be halfway through a very huge mouthful of spaghetti and the shock of seeing Chicken Dude smooching my mother and then slapping her rear end and sticking her leg up into his crotch grabbed me by the throat and squeezed hard, forcing the spaghetti that was nearly-fully down my gullet to shoot straight back up and out through my nose with a loud snort. And it all happened so _fucking_ quickly that I didn't even realise that I had spaghetti dangling from my nostrils until I had reached the bathroom.

* * *

"That was just inappropriate, mom. So frikkin' inappropriate! You're a married woman, for God's sake! Just because you don't _live_ with my father anymore, doesn't mean that you're divorced or something. It certainly doesn't give you the right to snog the first man you see straight after moving! How long has this been going on for? A few months? Years, even? No wonder you never came back, no fuckin' wonder! 'Looking after Grandma' my great, big, fat, hairy, monstrous frikking ASS! I bet he's been keeping your bed warm while you've been here." I looked away stubbornly.

"Bella, it's not like tha-"

"NO, don't you _fucking_ tell me it's not like that! It _is_ like that! It's _exactly_ like that! Don't try and deny it, you'll only make it worse, if it can get any worse. Oh and another thing. I'M LEAVING." My heart droops like a wilting flower at the prospect of leaving my mom again, but then I quickly replay that scene in my head and sob even more.

"Baby, no! Please! Think about it, if Charlie's gone, who are you gonna stay with?"

"Anywhere but here, as if you care anyway! If you didn't love Charlie anymore, I'm sure you could've worked something out. Meanwhile you left us both in Forks to fend for ourselves while you snuggled up every night to Chicken Legs and stuck your tongue down his throat! Never mind me, didn't you think for a minute how _Charlie_ would feel? He loves you! He frikking loves every piece of you, and you've ruined it all!" I sobbed loudly. I didn't give a flying fuck if our guests heard this. In fact I hoped they had heard it all.

"I bet you don't even love Chicken Legs. You're just with him to pass the time aren't you? To have a little fun when my Grandma gets boring? Huh, you're pathetic. Really, just pathetic, and I hate you. I. Hate. You." I spit out, hoping it would hurt more than the previous word.

After gathering all the few things I had taken out of my suitcase, I stomped downstairs again. Most of the guests had gone. Too bad, they needed to hear what a bitch their hostess was. Renee was in Stefan's arms, crying and rubbing her face into his neck while he soothed her and rubbed her lower back. The bile reached my throat but I swallowed it and stormed outside. I dialled Edward's number and he picked up on the second ring. Forcing my stupid tears back to their respective ducts, I said,

"Edward, could you… Oh fuck. You couldn't come and pick… Pick me up, could you?" I wasn't bothered with swearing in front of Edward at this point in time. I was sure if he was present and had seen all this coming, he wouldn't give a shit either.

"What's wrong? Where are you?" I heard the front door slam.

"I'm still in Phoenix. Please. Please, come quickly. I can't stand another minute here." I narrated the story of what happened and had been happening for probably the last few years.

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in no time." A car engine revved, and he hung up.

I sat down on the sundried brick curb and crossed my arms and legs so tightly that I felt they wouldn't easily unravel anytime soon. I kept thinking back to that little act that Stefan pulled. I mustered all my inner strength to prevent myself from kicking his tanned ass to Timbuktu. My eyes involuntarily close and I dozed off for what seemed like a few minutes. The next thing I knew, it was dark, really dark. A shadow was calling my name.

"Bella? Bella? It's Edward. I'm here, alright. Don't worry about anything, I'm here for you. I'm here," He soothingly repeated. He sure looked a hella lot like that Greek god, what's his name? Ah, Adonis. Oh yeah. His messy hair was bronzer than ever. My heart flew around awkwardly.

"E'ward, I'm so sorry. Was the ticket really expensive? Oh shit, I'm sorry, what the frikking frack was I thinking? I'm so sorry, I'll pay you back, I swear to it." I felt really bad about dragging him down here and tried to get up from the curb.

"Take it easy. And it's fine, don't worry about that now. We Cullen's have our ways, don't we?" He smiled crookedly and my heart skipped a few beats.

"Come on, let's get you home. I've booked our tickets already, so let's get going." He lifted me up, and I hoped that I didn't puke all over him. Please, please, please God, please don't let me barf. He hesitantly placed me in the front passenger seat, carefully doing up the seatbelt, chucking my suitcase in the back. I leant against the headrest and sighed deeply. I knew the ride wouldn't be very long, because Renee lived right near the airport. I closed my eyes for the short period anyway.

* * *

My eyelids flutter open frantically. I'm grope around and sit up… In my bed. What the hell? How did I get here?

I hear the rustling of papers that first woke me up and see Charlie snooping through my bookshelf.

"Dad! What am I doing here? I… Was I dreaming? Wha'…" Charlie comes to sit on the edge of my bed. I can tell by looking at his red and puffy eyes that he's been crying a lot. So I haven't been dreaming. It was all real. Edward must've told him what happened.

"Dad – Charlie - I'm so sorry. I had no idea that mom was… I'm sorry." He comes closer to me and gives me a tight hug. I can hear him sobbing gently and my heart breaks into two neat pieces – cracking right down the middle. We stay in that position for a while before my father gets up and walks out of my room, closing the door behind him. I think he needs alone-time now, to get over what happened.

Whispers and hasty, distorted speech reach my ears. Someone is down there with Charlie. I prick my ears. Then I hear footsteps on the stairs.

Edward pokes his head around the door and gives me an apologetic yet lopsided smile. I beckon him to come in and he closes the door. He sits down on the edge of my bed and fiddles around with the sleeves of his jumper.

"Bella, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry just doesn't fit it anymore." I huddle my knees together and cross my arms around them. It's suddenly a lot colder in here.

"There is nothing to say. I'm glad that I found out. Not like this, but I'm glad I found out before, well before it went any further. I feel worse for my dad. Poor Charlie," I shake my head worryingly. "Anyway, I don't really want to talk about it anymore. It's all over, I don't want to see Re- I mean _her_ anymore. Ever again," Edward nods slowly.

"Hey, anyway, how the frick did I get here so fast? The flight was so long on the way there… And how did you get all the tickets and stuff so fast, dude! If I ever need to get somewhere, I'm gonna phone you, ha." I laugh glumly, even though I feel like crying.

Edward's eyes look to the left side and down. I narrow my eyes at him. He only ever does that when he feels guilty. I press him for further details.

"What, Edward? Tell me, please."

"Well, I obviously couldn't get the tickets that fast, and you sounded so bad, so I just asked Carlisle for… ," He trails off quietly.

"Asked Carlisle for _what_, Edward?" I am so confused.

"Asked him if we could use the private jet, is all. And as we were on the plane, I phoned Charlie to come as soon as possible." He shrugs.

My mouth falls out and all the air whooshes out, ironically, like a plane.

"A private jet? But… But I didn't even know you had a private jet! Wow, I… Thank you." I put my hand on his cheek and smile. I am utterly grateful for him getting me out of there as fast as possible. I drop my hand and cross them over my legs again.

"I'll, um, I'll just go now. Leave you in peace. Um… See you tomorrow at school?" He sounds hopeful. I give a watery smile and nod.

"Yes, it's a date." He smirks crookedly and lopes out gracefully, throwing the two separate pieces of my heart into the air. I gulp and lie down on the bed, wishing all my thoughts to disappear into thin air.

* * *

**So! Was that what you expected? I don't think so, because I certainly surprised my Beta, lol. Please review and let me know what you think!**

**And I know it's a bit random and really sudden at the end… Sorry if you don't particularly like that.**

**Last but by no means least, next chapter will be when Edward and Bella finally... Finally _do_ something. I'm saying no more. *zips lips***

**Mucho love to you all for the support.**

**Rose :D x**

**(Oh, and *rushes out* ;))**


	8. Drainpipe Debacles and Heartbreaking MI

**Hey, guys! I'm finally back.**

**Chapter 8 is here, thank God. This is gonna be a short A/N (though I'm sure you'll all be happy for that :P).**

**Thanks to my Beta for all her awesome help. She is the absolute best.**

**If you were slightly confused by the chapter name, an MI (or Myocardial Infarction) is a fancy name for a heart attack.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.**

**Lastly, I hope you like it, love it, hate it, whatever. Just enjoy it. :)**

* * *

**Bella POV**

"That's it, Bella. You're grounded!" Charlie's tightly-clenched fists slammed down on the table. I stood up abruptly, and my chair hit the lino before I could stop it.

"Ugh. Be like that! I wasn't even doing anything. Just because you see a few people from my school drinking and stuff, it doesn't mean that I do too! It's a disgusting habit, do you know how many times Carlisle has given Edward and I lectures on smoking and alcohol abuse? Tons and tons of lectures, all on the same thing and they included pictures too. I really don't want to end up with a pair of black lungs or a morbid liver, Dad. Please believe me." I begged, and sat down at the table again.

"Bella, I want to, I swear I do, but how can I?" My father looked me straight in the eye, trying to see the truth. "I thought Jessica Stanley was a good friend of yours."

"Psh, no, Dad, she isn't! I haven't spoken to her since she started school like a million years ago. Anyway, like I just said, I didn't do anything! Why would you just automatically assume this?"

"Honey, when I confronted Jessica about that bottle of vodka, she told me that you had given it to her." I gasped and my eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Dad, she's lying! Charlie – Dad – I swear. I swear that I did not give that bottle to her. I've never touched alcohol in my life, except for the time you gave me a spoon of brandy when I was ill. That's it, I swear! She's lying to you." I so wanted to kill Jessica.

"I'm sorry Bella, but she sounded so innocent and convincing. She's a good girl, she hasn't been in trouble with the law except for drinking, but that's it-"

"Oh, that's it! And when have I been in trouble, huh? I'm a saint in this town; I never do anything against the law. I abide by every rule. How can you believe that stupid bitch over me?" I was furious but I still hadn't meant to swear.

"That's it! Don't you ever let me here you swearing again, young lady! You're grounded. End of story. Go to your room and come down when you're ready to apologise and tell me the _truth_." He emphasised. Then he picked up the phone and dialled a number.

"I won't… let you hear." I said under my breath. I stomped up the stairs and into my bedroom before I heard another word. The worst thing was I was telling the truth - I had never touched alcohol in my entire sixteen years. Charlie's reaction seemed over-the-top but I knew what drink had done to my grandfather. That was another reason why I wouldn't touch alcohol with a bargepole. Who the hell did that urchin think she was, accusing me of giving her alcohol? I was fuming at this point. I lay down on my bed and tried to get comfortable but there was something poking my bottom. I fumbled around to find the source of irritation and pulled a ballpoint pen from beneath my covers. It was the pen Edward had given me to borrow when I'd forgotten my pencil case at school. That reminded me… Edward wanted me to come over to his house later on. But because I was grounded, I wouldn't be able to, would I? Ugh, who cares, my talking thoughts mumbled. Who cares if you get into even more trouble than you are already in? You're grounded anyway, so what more can Charlie do? Just leave, already.

I sat up straight and contemplated leaving. It would be simple, since that huge strong monster (or what others would call a drainpipe) lived directly outside my bedroom window and led straight to the ground. I could jump the last foot or so. I put on a light hoodie in case it rained, which it probably would, and yanked the window frame up, scratching my palm in the process. Please God, don't let me die. I don't want to die yet.

I slowly climbed down, being careful to make as little noise as possible. If Charlie caught me, I was dead. Just… Dead. The final stop. I could feel myself getting closer and closer to the ground with every inch I slid down the drainpipe. Nearing the bottom, I attempted to jump off. Attempted being the operative word – my sweaty palms decided that instead of slipping straight off they'd cause my hands to glaze promptly with the black plastic. My hands weren't coming off! I tugged carefully, cursing someone in the process and when that didn't work I heaved myself off the pipe. Big mistake – the pipe suddenly chose to let me down at that very moment and break off in the process.

"Oomphfffphf. Ow." That was gonna bruise. I gingerly brushed off the leaves and dirt from my skinny jeans and hoodie, pricking my ears like a dog in case I heard a nosy neighbour. I looked around swiftly, put my hood up and ran towards the forest – it was the easiest way to get to Edward's house without bringing attention to myself.

* * *

I peeked out between the bushes and trees, wondering if I should phone Edward to ask him to open the door or something. But then, my talking thoughts commented, won't Esme ask who's at the door? She'd definitely notice me walk in with Edward. On the other hand, my thoughts continued, Esme won't snitch to Charlie on you. She's… Cool. She'll understand why you're sneaking out to see your best friend, yeah, totally. The cautious side of my thoughts were silenced – I was going to bluntly ring the doorbell. I trudged through the leaves and raised my hand stiffly. To ring or not to ring, that was the question. I shook my head and was just about to press the buzzer when the door flew open.

"Bella," I gasped at Edward's smiling face.

"Edward, you scared me, silly," I punched his arm and smiled in satisfaction when he winced. "Now shut up and tell me, is Esme here?"

"No, she's gone to the mall with Alice. Why?" Edward's eyes narrowed suspiciously. I avoided looking at him directly and nonchalantly said,

"Well, Charlie grounded me, so I had to sneak out." I shrugged as if to say it wasn't a big deal (which, ironically, it was because Charlie would deep-fry me if he ever found out).

"You snuck out? Why, you silly, silly girl, you could get into so much trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie came to arrest you," Edward looked quite angry at me.

"Excuse me, Mr. I'm-Never-Naughty, but I wanted to see you! Charlie wouldn't have even allowed me out tonight, so I had to get here somehow!" I disregarded telling him about the drainpipe climbing (or in this case, abseiling). He'd think I was suicidal or something.

"Come on, never mind that. I want to do something fun after those horrible exams. Ugh." I started to climb the stairs to Edward's room, and he followed.

"How were they horrible? I found them quite simple, especially Calculus." Edward looked genuinely curious.

I stared at him in shock. "English was the only good one. Okay, I always knew you were weird but Calculus was the hardest test ever! I've never seen such difficult questions before." I closed the door to his bedroom.

"If you're really worried, I could bribe Mr. Varner to give you an A," Edward offered.

My mouth fell open as I sat down on the bed.

"Kidding, Bella. It's a joke," He emphasised.

"Yeah yeah, very funny, Mr. Dazzling." And then I blushed, because I'd called him Mr. Dazzling and betrayed my friend at the same time. Zanna, a total Goth girl in my class, had once named Edward 'Mr. Dazzling' because when he smiled at her - in a totally platonic way – she couldn't even move a muscle. Quite frankly, he had dazzled her into a coma or something, because she hadn't been able to speak for, like, a week after that little encounter. I stood up to face the door.

"Mr. Dazzling? I've never heard that one before. Did you just make that up?" Edward moved closer and faced me directly. His fingers traced my blushing cheeks, leaving a burning trail where they moved. Oh my Lord, my talking thoughts started up, do you think he'd notice if I buried my nose in the crook of his neck?

"No, it's nothing. I mean no one. I just, um. Never mind. You don't need to know."

"Bella. Tell me, please. I want to know." His tone was oddly teasing as his eyebrow arched.

"No. Um." I couldn't speak properly because Edward's golden orbs had captured mine. My mouth fell open slightly as I tasted his sweet, candy-cool breath. I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly.

Before I knew it, Edward had gripped my arm and pushed me against his wardrobe. My eyes shot open and my breath hitched. I whispered,

"Edward, what are you doing?" I could barely hear my voice but it sounded panicked. I looked at him – his high, angular cheekbones, his strong jaw line, his straight nose, his full lips, and lastly, his burning eyes. He was so perfect, it hurt. I gulped.

"Are you going to tell me about this Mr. Dazzling or not?"

"Not. Definitely not," I tried to wriggle out of his grip or else I might have blown up with the tension and heat. It was impossible to breathe now.

"Wrong answer, love." Edward said in a low voice. He looked intensely into my eyes one final time and bent down to press his lips against mine. His lips were firmly on mine, and I felt the electricity jolt through my lips right down to my toes. I heard someone shouting Edward's name in the background but I was enjoying the current situation way too much to care. Edward's hand sneaked into my hair and grabbed hold of a few locks. My hands mirrored his actions, and I pulled my nails slowly across his scalp. Edward moaned into my mouth as he dipped his head down and traced a line down my neck with the tip of his nose. I stifled a moan when I felt Edward's tongue sweep across the base of my neck. My eyes rolled back at the sensation and I gasped in intense pleasure. Edward lifted his head from the crook of her neck and we stared at each other. I gently kissed him again and pulled away.

Edward's eye colour had deepened into the sexiest colour I had ever seen – and it automatically became my new favourite shade of gold. Once again, I inhaled his sweet breath. He said,

"Bella, love, I need to confess something," My heart was hammering so hard against my chest it was going to break through into Edward's hands, which were holding mine. He bent his head forward and kissed my knuckles sweetly before looking up straight into my eyes with sincerity. "I love y-"

Suddenly, the door burst open and Edward and I jumped a foot apart, releasing each other.

"Bella, Charlie's had a heart attack. You need to get to the hospital right now. I'm sorry, but it was very serious. He's in a very critical condition, but Carlisle has the best doctors on hand there to treat him. Come on, now." A dishevelled Esme Cullen waltzed in and pulled me towards the door by my hand. I turned around and looked at Edward in disbelief as my emotions flooded over me. Edward had a mild look of confusion on his face, and it also looked as if he had recently been hit over the head with a brick.

"Edward, come on. I need you there." My eyes watered.

Edward snapped out of his reverie and gracefully walked towards me. He picked up my palm and kissed it softly as he said,

"Of course, we'll go right now. Mom, will you drive us there, please?"

"Yes, yes, let's just go now."

I was bustled out of the house with Edward by my side, overwhelmed with fear and stress, my eyes streaming with tears.

* * *

"Dad! Charlie! Oh, God, why isn't he responding? What's wrong with him? Tell me everything! And screw the protecting me crap, please." I didn't mean to be rude but I had to understand exactly what had happened. Carlisle nodded.

"Well, Bella, your father has suffered a massive Myocardial Infarction, that's a heart attack. It was quite serious, because he couldn't breathe properly. To be quite blunt, it was lucky Sue had found him quickly, or we may have lost him."

"Sue? I don't understand…" I was still in major shock.

"Sue Clearwater had been knocking on the door to deliver some food. She knew Charlie was home as she had just gotten off the phone with him. She knew where the spare key was and opened the front door calling his name. Because of his condition he unable to answer her but Sue found him halfway up the stairs. We think he was trying to go to your room to find you and get you to call an ambulance. Sue phoned for one and then tried to find you when the paramedics arrived. When she couldn't find you, the first person she called was Esme, since she thought you must be with Edward. If she hadn't found him in time, I'm very sorry to say, but Charlie Swan would not be present with us now. As said, he is critical but his condition is slowly stabilising. We'll have to keep him for a few days and run more tests to be perfectly sure,"

Throughout Carlisle's entire speech, my mouth grew wider and wider with the horrors of the story unfolding before me. By the time Carlisle had finished it was so huge you could have fit a house in it. Basically, Charlie would've died if Sue hadn't been there. If I had only stayed in my room when grounded, none of this would've happened…

Edward's arm wrapped around my shoulders protectively and he held me tightly. He said,

"Bella can stay with us tonight, can't she?" Then he spoke directly to me and said, "Don't worry, we'll look after you. I'm so sorry, honey, I really am."

I shook off Edward's arm and looked at him. His eyes had a hint of pain in them but quickly covered it up. I continued,

"No. I want to stay here. Right here with my father. I'm not going anywhere,"

"Bella, at least consider-"

"_No_, I just said, I'm staying here. Here" I emphasised. I walked towards Charlie's bedside and held his hand, sitting down on the wooden chair. It felt really cold, and that just made me cry even more. Someone moved behind me, but Carlisle said,

"Son, don't, let her be. She needs to be alone. We will all come back later, yes?" The small crowd of Cullen's (plus nurses) dispersed and I was left alone in the room with Charlie.

I wiped away my tears and looked at my dad. The ever-present crinkles around his eyes had disappeared and he looked very peaceful. That's when I promised myself that I would never disobey him again.

There were three things that I was absolutely sure of at this point. Firstly, it was my fault that Charlie was in such a harsh condition. Secondly, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with Edward Cullen. Thirdly, I would never be able to act upon my feelings.

I needed to put a stop to this, however much it hurt me.

Edward could and would never find out that I loved him.

* * *

**Ohhh, wasn't that just evil? I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please make me happy by letting me know what you think of it and _reviewing_! *hint hint***

******Now I just need to concentrate on getting Chapter 9 here a bit sooner than usual, but no promises, sorry. **

******Much lovings to you all for reading (and reviewing) and thanks so much!**

******Rose :) x**


	9. Badbyes

**Hhh! I'm back!**

**Wow. It's been forever since I updated… Even I had to re-read the previous chapters to remind myself about what I'd written!**

**This is a really short chapter compared to the previous ones, but I hope you find that it's okay.**

**Thanks to my Beta for all her help. This story would not be without you!**

**This chapter is dedicated to ' In love with a cullen ', purely because I miss her and I can't stand to not see her everyday. My heart breaks, Posh. I love you loads. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga, yada yada. I'm just using her characters for this FanFiction.**

**Lastly, I hope you like it, love it, hate it, whatever. Just enjoy it. :)**

* * *

Bella POV

"Charlie, please sit down! You'll hurt yourself again!" I cursed under my breath and ran out of the kitchen, wiping my sticky hands on my jeans. Stupid Poptart. Tsk-ing, I shook my head at my father. He sat down on the sofa gingerly and looked up at me.

"But, Bells, relax! I'm not dead… Yet. HA." He chuckled and rolled his eyes. I sucked in a huge breath of air.

"DON'T YOU EVER SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!" My eyes started to water. As if smelling the salt, he looked up at me straight away and peered into my eyes. Once the waterworks started, it would take a long time to stop them and Charlie knew that.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to… You know… Lighten the mood. Go on, Bells. Go to school. I'll be fine and anyway Sue will be here in a mo'." He shrugged. I sighed deeply. Charlie had just gotten out of hospital a few weeks ago after being there for an entire week. When (and I winced his name here) Carlisle told me that he'd only be kept in the hospital for a few days, I wasn't so sure. I made sure the nurses kept him there for at least a week, just to be safe. I'd visit everyday after school.

Ah, school. School was… Well, awful. At lunch, I sat with Angela, Ben, Lauren, Jessica 'Freakazoid Urchin' Stanley and Mike 'Creepazoid' Newton. And hey! I know what you're thinking… After all they did, I still sat with them. Well, it was either them or the janitor – I didn't exactly know any other people. My best… I mean, my ex-best friends (Edward (wince), Alice (wince), Jasper (wince), Emmett (wince) and Rosalie (wince)) were the only people I had known and stayed with all the time. But that was no longer an option; after a long talk with myself, I realised that I needed to change. A clean break, if you would. I needed to cut myself free from Edw… From _them_.

It wasn't that I was angry at them. In fact, it was the total opposite. I was angry at myself… For allowing myself to fall in love with my best friend. My _best friend_, for God's sake. I mean, who even did that?! If Edward ever found out that I loved him, he'd run a mile. No, he'd run to England. Or probably to China. Even India. It would be ridiculous, and not only for my stupid heart. Just imagine if his family found out. Alice! If Alice knew, she'd probably slap some sense into me anyway. But I knew what I needed to do… I had known what I needed to do ever since Charlie's heart attack. Like I said before – a clean break. And that's why I hadn't spoken to any of my frien… Ex-friends for a month. It had hurt like hell to delete their numbers from my phone (even though I knew them off by heart) and run around the corner if I saw one of them walking in the hallway. I'd tried to get my timetable changed since I had a lot of lessons with them all. But to no avail. One thing I had managed to do was switch seats. I sat with Ange and Ben in most lessons, and Monica, Niamh, Emily and Vicky (I barely knew these girls) in the others. But Edward's expression when I had blanked him the first day back to school… That was something I wasn't going to be forgetting any time soon.

* * *

I sat in my truck, contemplating. Should I read a book for a bit, or go into school an hour early? I went with the latter; shouldering my bag, I trudged my way past the kissing gate, through the hallways and into my form room. Before I sat down in my original place, where I had previously sat with Edward, I walked to the back of the room slowly and sat down. I looked around the room, as if seeing it for the first time… And in walked Mike Newton. That stupid creepazoid. The last thing I wanted was to talk to him! I grimaced and ground my teeth, wondering where the hell Edward was… NO. I didn't, wouldn't and couldn't see Edward. Turning my grimace into a half-hearted smile, I greeted him. Mike licked his lips and called out,

"Hey, beautiful. Why are you so early?"

"Hello, Mike. Yeah, it's crazy, huh?" I faked a girly laugh and saw Mike do a double take. He had probably expected me to shout him down.

"I guess so. So… What are you up to now?"

"Nothing, as you can see." I pointed to my bag. "I'll probably start reading in a little while…" I took a deep breath. I really needed it for what I was about to say next. "Hey, Mike?"

"Yo." I grimaced again. Oh, _man_.

"Would you… Um… Like to… You know… Sit? Down? Next to… Uh, me?" I blushed the colour of beetroot. This measure was because I knew Edward would probably wander towards me, thinking I had changed seats but still wanted him to sit next to me. He'd be absolutely correct. I would've liked nothing better than to have him sit next to me so I could ogle him. But that was what I'd do in another life. In a parallel universe, where Edward would know I loved him… And share the same feelings as me. If Edward loved me…

Gah! I shook my head and smiled at Mike, who looked as if he'd been hit on the head by a rock. Then he broke out into a delighted smile.

"Sure!" He grabbed his rucksack and threw it down next to me. He pulled his seat in and closer towards me. I stiffened. Oh, fuck, what had I done?! I quickly got my book out and mumbled something about Mr. Berty, English, Romeo and Juliet, and started to read. Three quarters of an hour later, I was still lost in Verona. And then…

"Bella! There you are, I've been trying to reach you for ages!" Edward walked towards me and squatted down at my table. I turned left and saw Mike had gone to greet his friends. Oh crap. Why couldn't he be there when I wanted him?! Stupidly, I looked at Edward. HUGE mistake. I looked at his perfect face, his chiselled jaw, the perfect curve of his lips (oh, those _lips_), his high cheekbones, his perfectly smooth nose, and then his eyes. They were a brilliant ochre. I almost melted. His lips formed a lopsided grin and he blinked, his long eyelashes brushing his cheeks. He raked his hand through his copper hair and left it messy. How I longed to do the same!

"Ed… Ward. Edward. Hey. Hi." I tore my eyes from his and bit my lip, looking at the table. As I turned red, I willed myself to make sure I didn't look at him again.

"Hey, Bella. You okay? How's Charlie? How are you? You didn't return my calls, did you get them? And my text messages? And emails? Hey, are you ill?" Via my peripheral vision, I saw him pull his hand up and saw it come close to my forehead. I started to breathe quickly and cringed away from his outstretched arm, never looking up. But I could see his frown from my peripheral vision. I gulped silently. Fuck.

"What's wrong, Bella? Please, talk to me. I'm your friend. Your best friend." He smiled crookedly again and I had to look at him. I had to. It's as if an invisible force was turning my neck towards him. I needed to say something and quickly, or my plan wasn't going to work. He reached his hand out to touch mine on the table, but I jerked away. His mouth popped open. Oh, craap.

"Edward, no. I… I can't do this. I'm sorry, I don't think it would be a good idea for us to be friends." I looked at his face, his beautiful face, and saw his eyes turn to slits.

"You… Don't want to be friends? What are you talking about?" He lowered his voice and quickly glanced around us. "You aren't… Um… You aren't on your… You know… Period, are you? Because I totally get if you are, Bells, I'll leave you alone for a bit."

I shook my head over and over. He frowned and cocked his head to one side. Gah, he looked like a newborn puppy when he did that. I was going to lose this. Again.

"Uhh, no, actually. No, I'm not on my period," I lowered my voice to a whisper when I said those last few words. "I just- "

"Just _what_? What are you talking about? Why can't we be friends? You know, Bella, you've been ignoring me for weeks. What the hell is going on?! Why are you doing this?" Edward spoke firmly. I looked around and saw that there were 5 minutes until form time. Crap, I didn't even care. I jerked my head towards the door, indicating I wanted Edward to follow me. I got up as quickly as I could without tripping- the last thing I needed now was for Edward to actually touch me- and hastened towards the hallway. Checking for traffic, I dodged past some kids and walked over to the art room. The art room was not actually an art room. People went there to either fool around or sleep. But I was going there for neither. Holding the door open, I let Edward walk in and closed the door behind us. My heart thumped erratically and I took a deep breath… The deepest breath I could possibly take. But before I could say anything, Edward interrupted me.

"It's because I kissed you, isn't it?" He didn't look down as if he was embarrassed; he just looked deeper into my eyes. My mouth popped open to try and form some words but I couldn't. His eyes flashed and I thought I saw regret and pain… What was I talking about?! My stupid mind was so obsessed that I just saw everything as a good sign.

"I'm sorry, Bella. That was wrong… It was a mistake." Again, my stupid brain saw an illusion of pain in Edward's eyes. But in a flash, they were empty. Warm, beautiful and empty. He straightened up and my heart sunk miserably. I knew that he knew it was a mistake from the beginning. But it still hurt when he said it. "I fully understand why you've been ignoring me… After I so inappropriately assaulted you. Please, Bella. Forgive me. And if you can't, I won't force you to… You know, talk to me. In fact… Let's just end things… Now." He nodded curtly and grabbed the door handle. Turning back once more before he left, he smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. I looked at his beautiful face and felt like wrenching his arm back and pulling him closer to me. I wanted to tell him I loved him more than anything in the world. I wanted to confess how happy he made me and how he made me smile every time I thought of him. I wanted to tell him how appropriate that kiss had actually been. I call it a kiss, but it was much more. I didn't stop looking at his eyes as I tried to form the words that I was thinking. _Edward, I love you, _I thought, willing myself to say it out sighed and gripped the door handle firmly, looking one final time into my eyes.

"Goodbye, Isabella Marie Swan."

And he was gone.

I fell to the floor and sunk dejectedly into a deep state of depression.

_He was gone._

* * *

**I know I shouldn't say this since I wrote it, but this chapter nearly made me cry. Gah. Poor Edward! Poor Bella! What will happen next, I wonder… **

**By the by, you may or may not have noticed that the chapter name 'Badbyes' comes from when people say 'Goodbye'. But in this case, as you've just read, it was a very badbye indeed.**

**I really do hope you enjoyed that! I accept the numerous slaps I shall get due to my lack of updating. And I am sorry about that, but RL just takes over.**

**Thanks for reading! If you don't mind, please just drop me a review! It'll be much, much appreciated!**

**Rose :) xox**


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